£15 High Street Challenge | July

I know how much y'all look forward to this post, so I'm sorry it's taken me this long into the month to get the post up.  In fairness, I haven't long bought the products either, the month has really flown by and I just didn't know what to buy... well, in a week or so it'll be time for the next one, and this time I really want your help - if you have any suggestions on what I can buy for August, please leave your recommendations in the comments :)

If this is your first time reading my £15 high street challenge, I'll quickly let you know what it is and why I started it.  Basically, in January when I looked back to reflect on 2014's posts, I realised nearly every product I blogged about was a PR sample.  And while I know they're all 100% honest, I know a lot of people aren't comfortable with that.  So in an effort to break up the amount of PR review posts, I'm giving myself a wee budget of £15 a month to spend on high street makeup - the catch is I need to try and buy at least 3 items for my money.  I'm not super strict with it, as long as it's around £15 I'm happy.

If you want to see what I've picked up on previous months, you can read them here.  So lets see what I bought:

I went to Boots in my lunch break on my 1st/2nd day back at work and saw they had a good Bourjois offer on, 3 for 2 and if you do the offer you get a free pair of Bourjois sunglasses - this is an offer Bourjois do every Summer, and for the last 2/3 years Bourjois have supplied my summer sunglasses through this offer :)  Each year they're different from the last, I love that.

I could resist picking up their new blusher, Aqua blush. I picked a coral shade.  It really reminds me of a watercolour blush type product.  It's so beautiful on the cheeks, it gives a really natural flush of colour that says put for hours and hours.  When I apply it, I squirt it onto my finger, dot it on my cheek and blend it in with a stippling brush.

I also went for the Healthy Mix concealer - considering how much I adore the Healthy Mix foundation (hello, holy grail!) I just had to give this a go!  So far I've only worn it under the eye (big mistake), so next I'll be trying it on other areas of my face :)  It's just a bit heavy for under eyes, and for me, the wrong colour.

The third product was a re-purchase, the 1 seconde nail polish remover, it's seriously great, fast and leaves my nails smelling super lovely :)  Much easier than faffing about with nail polish remover and cotton pads.

This was a little over budget, coming in at about £18, but that's not bad considering what I managed to get for my money.

What recommendations do you have for next month?

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Beauty UK Shimmer Box in Rose

In my £15 high street challenge post on Tuesday, you'll have seen I picked up this blusher by Beauty UK - it's the first thing I've tried by the brand so I had no real expectations.  On appearance, it reminds me of the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks, and I'd imagine that's no accident.  But, seeing as I've never tried any of the Shimmer Bricks, I really can't compare.

In this box there is a mix of 5 different shades - 4 are pink, and one is pretty much white.  Generally, you'd just swirl your blusher brush over all of them, but if you wanted to add a little bit of highlight, you could just use a smaller brush, or your finger to go into the white shade, could be good to use on the cupids bow?

Just thinking about it, these could also double up as eye shadows.  Personally, I'm not a fan of pink shadow, so I wouldn't use it for that - it'll be staying as a blusher in my collection!  Each stripe is shimmery, so does contain little glitter particles, but I didn't find that this translated onto my skin - it did give me a gorgeous glow though without being overly shimmery.  

The quality is lovely - I only needed one swirl for each cheek.  It's very well pigmented, but not over the top, and blended beautifully.  With blusher, as a rule, I always use my powder brush after applying blusher to soften the look just by brushing it over the cheeks - it helps to soften the edges of the blush.

I bought mine at Superdrug for £4.99 - do I think it's worth the price? Yep, it's a really lovely blusher with a lovely finish that's great quality.  So far my foray into Beauty UK is great, are there any other products of theirs you'd recommend?

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Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Dazzled

This really has worked it's way to being up there in my top favourite blushers.  My good friend Laura, over at A Scottish Lass picked it up for me when she was in NYC just over a year ago, and it's only in the last month or so I've really given it some face time.

The Tarte Amazonian Clay range is well known in the blogging world and has many of us lusting after the range, it's just a shame it's not the most accessible over here.  You can find some Tarte products over on QVC, but I've not seen the blushers on there before.

Dazzled is a gorgeous berry-toned blush with teeny tiny gold flakes of glitter in it - it's worth nothing, these gold glittery flakes do NOT translate to the skin.  It's basically a matte blusher.  What I love about it is that it isn't crazily pigmented, and super soft - this is a good thing because it means you don't pick up too much product when your swirl your brush in it, resulting in clown cheeks.  Instead, you get a soft flush of colour that looks beautifully natural, more like a glow.

These blushers include clay harvested from the banks of the Amazon river - I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, surely that's harvesting a natural resource we don't have an unlimited amount of? Either way, it's a gorgeous blusher that lasts a long time on the cheeks, and comes in a choice of 15 different shades, and is paraben, sulphate and phthalates free.

Laura picked very well as this really is a 'me' shade.  I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of it before use, truth is I did take them, but I can't locate the pictures any more as I took them quite a while ago.

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Makeup Revolution Blush, Bronze & Brighten palette

Today I bring you some more Makeup Revolution releases, this time, they're bronzer, highlighter and blusher palettes similar to the Sleek ones we've all come to know and love.

These are different to the Sleek contour palettes though - I don't know about you, but as much as I liked the Sleek palettes, I did find that the blushers were far too pigmented (resulting in blotchy clown cheeks) and very glittery (not a good look on a 35 year old mummy!) - that's what I love about these, the blushers are appropriately pigmented (very well, but not like clown face paint!) and they're virtually matte.  I don't know if you can see from the swatches, but they blend beautifully too, creating a gorgeous glow on your cheeks.  

The highlighters are really gorgeous too, they're not too glittery and look lovely on the cheekbones (also work nicely under the brow bone, on the inner corner of the eye and on the cupids bow on your lip).  The bronzers are lovely as well, pretty much matte, some with a delicate shimmer which didn't really translate to the skin.

What I like is that there's a palette for different skin tones too - for example, take the Rave and Golden Hot palettes - ideal for darker skin tones - that's not to say those with paler skin tones can't wear them, but I think the highlighters and blushers in those palettes will look particularly lovely on darker skin :)

These are lovely quality, I adore the blushers, the soft gentle glow and great blendability, these really are gorgeous!

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*Post contains PR samples

New CID i-glow blusher

It's been a little while since a blusher has really grabbed me and I've thought, wow.  Don't get me wrong, there's plenty out there I really like and that I've been genuinely impressed with, but to really get me to oooh and ahhhh about a blusher takes a lot as my standards are pretty high, especially since I tend to get a bit of dry skin on my cheeks, it can make blushers look less-than-perfect on my skin.

First off, lets just take a second to appreciate the prettiness of this blusher, it's a gorgeous dusky pink/rose gold, with baked gold veins running through it like marble.  It's like a hybrid between a blusher and a highlighter, in fact, it's name 'i-glow' describes it perfectly, it really does give a gorgeous glow to your cheeks.

One thing I love about it is that you don't pick up too much product when you swirl your brush in it (don't you just hate that?).  It blends beautifully too and doesn't splodge on your face (not a good look), plus there's a distinct absence of glitter in this blusher, which I can get on board with.  I'm all for shimmery blushers, I'm just not a fan of glittery ones (far too old for that!).

At £24.50* it's certainly one of the most expensive blushers in my collection, but with it working as both a highlighter (albeit, coloured) and a blusher, it does serve a dual purpose, potentially saving you money in the long run.  Do I think it's worth the price tag? I honestly do, it's strikingly beautiful and very wearable, and for the £24.50 you get 9g of product, which is a lot!

Overall I think it's a gorgeous blusher, and while I've only tried this and the foundation from New CID, this certainly was the stand-out product out of the two (the foundation was decent, it's just this is exceptional).  If you're ever near a New CID stand, be sure to seek this out and swatch it (or check it out online here).

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*This post contains a PR sample

Neve cosmetics mineral blusher in Heidi

Today I'm chatting about the mineral blusher from Italian cruelty-free brand, Neve.  I've reviewed quite a few of their pieces before and so far I've loved everything I've tried.  The quality of the makeup they produce is fantastic, and this is no exception.

It comes in packaging typical for a mineral product, which is a tub with a little twist sifter.  You simply twist it to release the product, tap a little into the lid and swirl your brush around to pick up the product (same as bare minerals foundation).  Be careful though, this is very well pigmented and you really don't need much product to create a natural flush on the cheeks.

One of the things I love most about this product is that it's cruelty free, but in spite of that, they haven't compromised on the quality.  It's possibly the best mineral blusher I've ever used.  It's a soft dusky pink, with a soft gentle lighter-pink shimmer (not glitter).  It looks stunning on the cheeks and perfect for these cold wintery days where a gorgeous look is flawless skin and just-walked-in-from-the-cold cheeks :)

It's an absolutely stunning blusher that I'm happy to have in my collection, and at 12,90€* it's really good value for money.  You can read my other Neve reviews here.

You can shop the Neve collection here from their European distributor.

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*Post contains PR samples

Makeup Revolution blush & bronzer palettes

The lovely people over Makeup Revolution have been at it, AGAIN!  Honestly, I can't keep up with all the new things they release, and what I can't get over is how what they do release is really good quality - how do they do it?

Anyway, I digress, they've released some lovely blusher and bronzer palettes, and while I haven't given them a good road test yet, I thought I'd let you know about them, and show you some swatches.

All about pink blush palette

This 8-shade palette has a combination of matte and shimmer shades, and the two on the far right, I'd suggest using as highlighters (the top right one is stunning - whereas for me, the bottom right one is more of an inner corner of the eye highlight).  The pigmentation on them is really good and with a nice variety of pinks.  The shade 2nd from the left on the bottom row is the only glittery/sparkly shade in the pinks (not including the highlight shades on the far right).

All about cream blush palette

Now this one is a special palette, featuring all cream blushers, no highlights, just a wide range of cream blushers.  What I loved when I swatched these was the consistency, they're really buttery but not greasy.  They're very, very well pigmented and appeared to blend really well.  I love the range of colours included too, from deep corals to light candy pinks.

All about bronze palette

What I don't like is bronzers or bronze palettes that are all shimmery, you can't really contour with that and that's how I use bronzers.  That's what I like about this, out of 8 shades, 5 of them are matte, 2 are baked and one is proper shimmery (could be nice on your décolletage).  I'll be honest, I did find I had to work with the baked bronzers to get a good swatch, so you might have more difficulty with these if you buy the palette for these shades.  The rest of them are well pigmented, soft and blendable and the lighter shades (the ones suited to me) have no hint of orange :)

So there you have it, more new releases from Makeup Revolution - each of these you can pick up on their website, or in a Superdrug that stocks them, for £6* each - great value for 8 blushers/bronzers that are really decent quality.

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*Post contains PR samples

Makeup Revolution The One blush stick

Top to Bottom, L-R: Matte Malibu, Matte Dream, Matte Rush, Matte Pink, Malibu, Dream, Rush, Pink

L-R: Malibu, Dream, Rush, Pink

L-R: Matte Malibu, Matte Dream, Matte Rush, Matte Pink

I love a new launch as much as the next person, but when it involves blushers, and potential dupes, I get even more excited!

This little parcel of new Makeup Revolution goodies landed on my door step a few days ago.  I saw quite a few bloggers Instagramming pictures of these and swatches, and many have likened them to the NARS Multiple as these are for the cheeks and lips too.  I haven't used the NARS Multiple so I can't compare, but many seem to think they're comparable :)

All in all there are 4 different shades, both available in matte and shimmer.  The packaging for each relates to the product inside - so the matte ones are in a matte box, and a matte finish tube - similarly, the shimmery ones are in a glossy finish box and tube.

The shimmery ones include a bronzer (malibu), a shade that doubles as a highlighter (dream), a pinky/coral shade (rush) and a bright pink shade (pink).  The matte ones have much greater pigmentation than the shimmery ones which tend to be a tad more sheer.  If you are using the matte ones, you'll only need to use a tiny amount as a little goes a long way.

Each one retails for £5 each and can be used either wet or dry - using it dry will give the most pigmentation, but if you use it wet you'll get a more sheer effect, nifty!

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*This post contains PR samples

MeMeMe Coral blossom cheek tint

** Excuse the slightly blurry pic **

** Foundation-less face, just eye makeup and the cheek tint **

While I don't have a massive MeMeMe collectio, what I have tried from them I've always liked - like their creme shadow in Willow (stunning colour and really long lasting) and their Fat Cat mascara.

They're also pretty well known for their Benefit-dupes like their moon beam and beat the blues highlighters - very comparable to Benefit but for a fraction of the price.  So when this little beauty landed on my door-step, I was quite excited to give it a road test.

As with any/many tints, it's not going to be crazily pigmented, after all, it's a 'tint' and supposed to be subtle.  You can even use it to layer another blusher on top of, to give more depth and vibrancy (a little trick I learnt from Benefit in how they use their tints and blushers).

This, as it's called, is a beautiful coral colour and not over the top.  I had plenty of time to blend it in and create a beautiful soft sheen on my cheek that had a slight luminescence and glow to it.  It stayed put all day and had only faded a little when I came to remove it.

At £5.50*, it's quite a bargain and deserves it's rightful recognition as a great cheek (& lip) tint.

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*This post contains a PR sample

Makeup Revolution vivid blush lacquer

Looking for a super intense creme blusher? Look no further!  I must admit, I had a giggle the first time I used this, I had done all my makeup (I always do blusher last) and put about half a pump of this on one finger and applied it to my cheek, only to discover, half a pump would have been too much for both cheeks, needless to say, I did look a little like a clown and needed to tone it down with lots of pressed powder over the top :P

That aside, the next time I used it, I used what I think was just under half a pump and that covered both cheeks - I think it still might have been a little much for me, but I do tend to wear blusher very light and subtle, so it's just been a bit of a learning curve realising how much/little I need.

When you do manage to get the balance right, it really is a beautiful colour and lasts really well. Considering how little of this you need, it'd bound to last for a really long time too.  The only thing I'm not keen on with these types of blushers (creme in a pump) is that they can wipe away the foundation underneath when you apply them - I've yet to find a good technique that doesn't do that.  Any recommendations?

This blusher comes in 6 different shades (this shade being O' Boy) and only costs £3*, bargain!

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*This post contains a PR sample

5 product face for Summer

For those of you clever enough to spot it, yep I'm wearing lipstick, and nope, there's no lipstick photographed in the top picture, that's because I'm a numpty.  So, lets pretend I'm not wearing lipstick in this pic (which to be fair, I don't normally) and then it'll be a 5 product face, not a pretend 5 product face :P

Anyway, we'll just brush that under the carpet :)  So I've been mixing things up a bit recently, wearing less makeup, some days I'm even venturing to work without any on!  Sadly, those days I often get comments saying "You look ill, are you ok?".... yeah, thanks for that boost of confidence!  lol, anyway, after not wearing foundation for a long time due to having horrific skin, I'm now wearing it again thanks to a new and improved skincare routine (you literally wouldn't believe the difference, if I'd had the confidence, I'd have done before and after photographs), whoop!  Just not as often as I used to.

I wanted to see how few products I could get away with using that would stop people saying that I look ill, seems 5 is the minimum.  So here's what I used.

Base - Makeup Forever HD Foundation

This created a great base for me that set matte, and lasted all day with only minimal patting of my nose and forehead (something I have to do with every foundation I ever wear, in fact, even if I'm not wearing foundation I have to do this).

Eyelids - Makeup Revolution palette in Romantic smoked

For this I only used one shade, which was the 3rd from the left, similar to Urban Decay's Sin - a soft natural slightly shimmery shade.  I wanted the lashes to stand out and my eyes to look bright and alert.

Lashes - Bourjois 1 seconde volume mascara (waterproof)*

Hopefully you saw yesterdays review, if not, you can see in the pic above it's a pretty awesome mascara.  It has the weirdest wand, with spikes and... balls.  It doesn't clump, and it does a great job of making the most of your lashes.  Also, because it's waterproof it doesn't budge all day and there's no drop-off from it on your cheeks.  That does mean it's a bit of a bugger to remove though, even with Bioderma!

Cheeks - Sephora blusher in Healthy rose

If you've been reading my summer series, then you'll have seen me review this already, it's an absolutely gorgeous blusher with a hint of coral, perfect for adding a natural glow to your skin/face.

Brows - HD brow palette in Foxy*

No face is complete without defined brows, even if they're not that defined :)  I tend not to go overboard with my brows, but they're naturally very pale and sparse, so they need a little help to look more normal, and so far I've found that this is my favourite palette to achieve this :)

So guys, I have a bit of a confession to make, you know how I was wearing lipstick, which made this a 6 product face?  Well, it was actually a 7 product face, I just realised I was wearing an eye shadow primer too... I know, total fail :P  Anyway, that's still not bad for me, I'd normally wear foundation, powder, eye shadow primer, cream shadow, at least 2 eye shadows, liquid eyeliner, mascara, blusher, brow powder - so 10 products, not bad to shave a few off that :)

That's the end of this Summer series, see you again in a few weeks for my next summer series looking and some different products :)

 

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