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Wednesday 19 August 2015

Makeup Ragrets

Lots of ragrets...
As a makeup lover, it's only natural that I also love to shop...mostly for makeup. Most of the time the beauty bits I pick up after doing some research, reading reviews and seeing if there's a gap in my collection. However, there are inevitably some impulsive buys that haven't worked out so well. Here are some of my more regretful purchases - including both high end and drugstore products.

// Australis AC ON TOUR Contouring & Highlighting Kit
I am ashamed to admit I fell victim to the hype of this product when it first set beauty lovers in Australia into a bit of a frenzy. I think I've reached for it maybe three times at most with disappointing results. The contour shades are so pigmented its very easy to make a mistake and the fact that the powders aren't bendable at all means when you do make a mistake its not easy to fix. The highlight shades are decent quality but I never reach for this palette anyway.

// Artiste No.55 Contour Brush
I must have purchased this around the same time as the Australis Contour Kit in the hopes that I could transform myself into a sculpted goddess. Unfortunately (probably mostly due to my application skills but anyway...), I found this brush to be quite useless. The bristles themselves are soft and the shape of the brush is perfect to fit underneath the cheekbone. However, the bristles are either not long enough, or the brush is too dense that it is really difficult to blend out product.  It is definitely NOT a dupe for the NARS Ita Kabuki and if you want an affordable alternative I would skip this one and try the Real Techniques Sculpting Brush instead.

// Maybelline SuperStay 24H Waterproof Powder
I wanted to love this so bad. The finish of this beautifully finely milled powder is gorgeous on the skin. However, something about it makes me produce so much oil that I have to use half a packet of blotting papers to make my face look normal again. Whilst I usually get a little bit of shine through the t-zone, it is nothing compared to how oily this powder makes me. I am thinking it's something to do with the waterproof aspect? Anyway it has become completely unusable :(

// Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette
I bought this cute little palette because the packaging is adorable and so convenient for travel. Plus the shades were completely gorgeous and a perfect combination of matte, shimmer and glitter. Unfortunately, I was fairly disappointed in this palette and I regret purchasing it for the fact that it doesn't compare in quality to my other palettes of around the same price range. The matte shades are quite beautiful and I will still reach for the palette to use the matte shades but the shimmer and glitter shades are so 'meh' in terms of pigmentation and lasting power on the lids. I would definitely give this one a skip and try the Chocolate Bar Palette from Too Faced instead.

// Benefit They're Real! Push Up Liner
This product has always received mixed reviews and caused a bit of controversy in the beauty world. Let's just say give me a pot of gel liner and a brush over this product any day. As most critical reviews of this product have mentioned - its too hard to use, the product is too dry and has the tendency to ball up and rub off and also its really really hard to use.

// Benefit It's Potent! Eye Cream
I swear this is not an Benefit slam fest because I do quite enjoy a lot of Benefit's products, however, their skincare range, in particular the It's Potent! Eye Cream was not for me. I found this product really thick and it caused a lot of milia (those little white dots) to form under my eyes. It was a product that I don't think should have been recommend to me and I definitely won't be trying any more of their skincare because it isn't marketed in a way that tells you what the products will do. I prefer the skincare I use to be simple and the packaging to be informative rather than obscured that 'cute' aesthetic benefit goes for (and works well for their cosmetic range). Also this was very expensive for what it is.

So there are some of my biggest makeup ragrets. Of course makeup and skincare products are so incredibly subjective and if they work or don't work for you can depend on such a wide variety of factors. Some of my biggest regrets have actually helped others find their favourite products - since I passed my Australis Fresh & Flawless Powder on to my mum a few years ago she hasn't used another foundation! Let me know what your biggest beauty regrets were or if you really like any of these products!

xx Cat

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