October Empties

EMPTIES

• Mario Badescu Aloe Vera Toner 236mL ($23.00) - I really don't think this did anything for my skin, I only ever noticed it making my skin feel really dry. I don't get the point of toner, especially when I always double cleanse. I won't be repurchasing this or another toner in the future I think, it's just not a step I need in my skincare routine. 
• John Frieda Frizz Ease Dream Curls Shampoo 250mL ($15.99) - I love this shampoo and will probably never use anything else in the future, this just works really well for my hair and I always keep backups of this because I love it.
• Colourpop Jelly Much Shadow 'Foxes' ($11.35) - I really loved this eyeshadow, but unfortunately it has dried out and it's just not usable anymore. This was a stunning metallic gold that was just really special, I loved the effect this had on the eyes and just thought it was a cool product. I wouldn't buy any more of these shadows because of how quickly they dry out (I've had this for maybe a year), and how little I actually used it. Although I loved the colour, it wasn't often that I reached for it and it just dried out while it was being neglected. This was the only colour in the Jelly Much range that I was really drawn to and at this point I have powder eyeshadows that could dupe this. 
• Ren Clean Skincare Keep Young and Beautiful Instant Firming Beauty Shot 10mL (SAMPLE) - I really liked this serum, it has an instant tightening effect and I think it really makes a difference, I mainly used this under makeup before events and I liked it for that. The full size is really expensive and I don't know if it's really worth it - but maybe in the future I'll try it again. I would definitely use samples of this, but $83 for 30mL is crazy. I'll have to see what other firming serums I can find that are more cost effective, especially if I want to incorporate it into my daily routine. 
• Neutrogena Makeup Remove Night Calming Cleansing Towelettes 25 Pack ($7.99) - My skin hasn't been reacting as badly to these lately so I think I'll keep using them. Ideally I'd like to switch to a cleansing balm, but I don't think that's the right move for me at the moment. 
• Cutex Strengthening Nail Polish Remover 100mL ($4.99) - I really liked this, it made it pretty easy to remove glitter polishes and didn't dry out my skin. So far I think this is the best nail polish remover I've tried. 
• Colourpop BFF Mascara in Black on Black ($10.45) - I didn't love this mascara, it was too waxy for me and I found it really difficult to remove, it also made my lashes look quite thick and clumpy. This did flake on me and the whole reason I bought this was because I thought it wasn't going to flake. My favourite is still Too Faced Better Than Sex and I guess I'm just going to have to stick with it in the future. 
• Le Labo Bergamote 22 Eau du Parfum (SAMPLE) - This wasn't for me, I liked the scent in the bottle but on my body it just wasn't pleasant. It's meant to be citrus-y but it ends up just smelling kind of weird like a cleaner. But even if I did like it this isn't something I would buy because it is ridiculously expensive. 
• Mecca Max Power Tool Brush Refresh Mist 150mL ($20.00) - I like this for a spot cleaner, it gets pretty much all the product out of my brushes and is just easy to use. I already have another one of these on the go but I would buy this again because so far it's the most effective spot cleaner I've found. 

Total value of products used up: $93.80

Iz 🦀

Reviewing All My Juvia's Place Eyeshadow Palettes

REVIEWING ALL MY JUVIA'S PLACE PALETTES

Zulu 

I do like this palette, it's just that I don't reach for it much. I love the shimmers in this and I think they're what really stand out about this palette. The pink is a duochrome with a gold shift, and all the shimmers are just so buttery and intense they're just beautiful. Often when I reach for this palette it's to use the metallic green because there just isn't anything else like it in my collection. The mattes are alright, I like the orange and the teal but don't use the others a whole lot. I like how warm the yellow is but it needs to be built up to have the amount of pigment I want it to. Because the colour story isn't entirely coherent I struggle a little bit with this palette, I always tend to go for the same kind of look - a three colour crease using yellow, orange, and pink and putting the pink shimmer or another shimmer from a different palette on the lid. To me this is a companion palette, and I kind of feel like the whole Juvia's Place collection is curated so you can mix and match with all their palettes. 

Warrior 2 

I would say this is my favourite neutral palette in my collection (not that I own many neutral palettes), I always reach for this when clients ask for a natural look, and I think it's just a great little palette! You could use this for blush and bronzer as well if you wanted which makes it perfect for travel. The black in this palette is the best black in my collection, it's super pigmented and I love using it as a liner. I also love Yodit, Daura, and Kana. If I'm being super lazy I'll just wear Daura all over my lids, and for natural looks on clients I use Kana and Yodit in the crease, deepen with Kufuru and pop a shimmer on the lid and it always turns out beautiful. This is just a really well curated palette, and one I'm very glad I picked up. I think these mattes are a different formula to the other Juvia's Place palettes I have because these feel really creamy, they're soft and really blendable whereas I find the mattes in other palettes to not be pigmented enough, tough to blend, and kinda chalky. 

Tribe 

When this was released I was really drawn to it because I feel like this has one of the more cohesive colour stories out of all the Juvia's Place palettes. I don't love all the shades, but that's true of any Juvia's Place palette for me. I love the duochrome and the metallic orange, and the bright green is really nice, I also love the tone of the matte orange. The lime green is a bit chalky, I find the deep green matte and metallic shades to be a little patchy and hard to work with, but overall I can use this palette and I do like the looks I create when I use this. I wish the darker greens were more green though - like an emerald, because to me they're a bit blue which throws everything off. I do reach for this pretty consistently, I use Tutsi and Maasai a lot, but I also don't own very many matte greens. 

Iz 🦀

October Lookbook

LOOKBOOK

OCTOBER 2019
October was a bit of a slow month for me because I was really sick for the first two weeks and then I just lost all motivation/inspiration to play with makeup. 

OCTOBER 1ST
NYX Pore Filler
Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation in Light Porcelain
Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer in Fair
Colourpop No Filter Loose Setting Powder in Translucent 
Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer in Light Bronzer
Kat Von D Shade & Light Contour Duo in Light (Lucid/Sombre)
MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle
Juvia's Place Warrior 2 Palette
Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer
NYX Epic Ink Liner
Colourpop BFF Mascara
Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Lip Liner in Celebrity Skin
Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Abstract
MAC Coconut Fix+
I really like how this look turned out, it was surprisingly flattering - I think if I was going to do this again I would wear blush because I felt kind of weird without it. This concealer definitely makes me look sick because of the yellow undertone but it's nearly finished and then I can get a new one!! I loved this lip combo, but I'm not sure how I feel about the bronzer because I'm so used to using my Revlon bronzer which has a warmer undertone it looked odd having the yellow tone of this. I also noticed my foundation oxidised which it doesn't normally, but I think that might be the powders fault, but I've never noticed it before so I don't know what's going on. For my eyes I started by putting Walzana all over my lid, through my crease, and under my eyes. I layered Zaz on top on my lid and under my eyes just to lighten it slightly because it was darker than I expected it to be. I deepened the outer corners using Shawata, and I blended out the edges using Kana and then Zaz. I just put Soft & Gentle in my inner corner to add some brightness back in and I think it made a big difference - I think this is a look that needs liner and I am loving my liner here because I opened a fresh liquid liner. 

OCTOBER 12TH
MAC Strobe Cream

NYX Pore Filler

Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation in 0CR

Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer in C0.5

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Translucent

Revlon Bronzer in 035 Sun

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Celebrated

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Princess Cut

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Jawbreaker Palette

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Blood Sugar Palette

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Deception

Colourpop Creme Gel Liner in Insomniac

Colourpop BFF Mascara

Lime Crime Velvetines Lip Liner in Cake

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipstick in Can't Relate

This was basically the same pink look I did last month, I just put glitter on my lids. I didn't get any good photos of this makeup so sorry about that !

OCTOBER 19TH

MAC Strobe Cream in Pinklite

NYX Pore Filler

Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation in 0CR
Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer in C0.5

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Translucent

Revlon Bronzer in 035 Sun

Juvia's Place Saharan Blush Palette Volume 2 

Too Faced Love Light Prismatic Highlighter in Blinded by the Light

Jeffree Star Jawbreaker Palette

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Tulip Twinkle

Colourpop Creme Gel Liner in Puppy

Colourpop BFF Mascara

Lime Crime Velvetines Lip Liner in Cake

Colourpop Ultra Glossy Lip in Glass Lip

MAC Fix+

I wore this to go to a Rae Morris masterclass and it was a bit of a mistake because it was a super windy day so my eyes kept watering and my hair got all in my lip gloss, it was a disaster. I didn't love this eye look, I just know I can do better. Rae did compliment me on it and so did a few strangers so I guess it wasn't that bad. I used Good Morning all over my lid as a base, and also used it to blend out any harsh edges later on. Then I used Fuck as a transition and then put Cherry Wet all over the lid, in the crease, and under my eyes. I topped my lids with Tulip Twinkle. It's not often that I use just one palette to do a full look, but I think Jawbreaker is really versatile and I've been having a lot of fun with it lately. 

OCTOBER 27TH

Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in Light Porcelain

Ulta3 Lightening Shade Adjusting Drops

Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer in C0.5

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

RImmel Stay Matte Powder in Translucent

Revlon Bronzer in 035 Sun

Flower Beauty Flower Pots Powder Blush in Peach Primrose

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Moonstone

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Peach Goddess

Colourpop Yes, Please! Palette

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Androgyny Palette

Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette

NYX Wonder Pencil in Light

Colourpop BFF Mascara

Essence Lip Liner in In The Nude

Essence Shine Shine Shine Wet Look Lip Gloss in Behind the Scenes

MAC Coconut Fix+

This wasn't my favourite look, I just really don't like the way neutrals look on me. I ended up putting on a different lipstick when I went out later in the day - my Too Faced Melted Matte in Gingerbread Man. My eyes watered a lot throughout the day so my foundation and concealer degraded around my eyes and under my nose which is super frustrating.

Iz 🦀

Reviewing All My Too Faced Palettes

REVIEWING ALL MY TOO FACED PALETTES

Sweet Peach
This was the first high end eyeshadow palette I ever bought myself so it holds a little bit of a special place in my heart. I haven't really used the darker shades in this palette, I mainly focus on the warm browns, peaches, and champagnes because that's just what I prefer to wear. I really like this palette, I don't love the matte browns and deeper shades, I find them kind of difficult to blend, but I overlook that because this palette holds my favourite eyeshadow of all time - Luscious. It's just the most beautiful metallic champagne colour ever made. It's so soft and easy to use and it just always looks pretty whether you're wearing a full eye look or just it all over the lid. Not all the shimmers have the same formula as Luscious which is a real shame because it's literally the best thing Too Faced have ever made. Bellini is close, but it's just not quite the same. Luscious is just so sparkly and it's the perfect tone. What I really love about this palette is the colour story, there's a lot you can do with this palette - smokey eyes, really soft natural looks, pink looks, neutral looks. It's a great everyday palette, and if I was the type of person to just have one palette and use it until it was finished I think I would be happy with this one - I know my Mum loves this palette just as much as I do and could use it to death. It's just a great palette that you don't even really have to think about your looks with because it arranges the colours for you so it's super easy to pair them. 

Razzle Dazzle Berry
I got this for my birthday this year from some friends and I'm so thankful for it, I really like the colour story, I just think it's a little too limited. I think there should have been a dark purple matte instead of the black with glitter in it, and possibly pastel purple instead of the matte bone colour. I really like the shimmers in this palette, but they're an interesting texture, they feel like creams and honestly I'm not sure if they are or not but they really feel like it. I absolutely love the more champagne shimmer because it reminds me of Luscious from the Sweet Peach palette which is my favourite shimmer of all time. I think you can create some really beautiful looks with this palette, and I really like to combine it with my Colourpop Ooh La La! and It's My Pleasure just to fill in the colour gaps where I need to. I feel like it's not a perfect palette, I would have changed colours (which is not something I say about a lot of palettes), and I just haven't used it a whole lot so I haven't had the opportunity to fall in love with it yet. 

Chocolate Gold 
I bought this palette because I was craving more metallics and shimmers in my collection. I still want some more light shimmers, but this was a decent start. The formula isn't really consistent across the shades, I find some of them (like the silver) are really soft and create a lot of fallout so you have to use a sticky base, but then other shades are really firm and almost don't pick up on a brush so you have to use setting spray to get them to adhere at all. It's a little frustrating, but I'm getting used to it and learning how I need to work with each shade. These colours are all beautiful, and I do think Too Faced make really nice shimmers, even if I have to learn how to use them they're still good shadows. I mainly use this palette as an accent palette when I need a specific colour. I can't see myself using the mattes in this a whole lot, but for clients they would be useful. I just think this is a really nice palette, I would recommend this to someone with a small collection because it has the basic mattes that you need and a good variety of shimmers with different textures and finishes. This isn't as good in my opinion as the Sweet Peach palette, but it's not like it's bad. 

Iz 🦀

Makeup Inventory: October 2019

INVENTORY

BASE PRODUCTS

• Primers: 8 (3 minis, 2 samples, 3 full size)
• Body Oils: 1
• Sunscreens: 1
• Foundations: 4
• Foundation Mixers: 1
• Concealers: 2
• Colour Correctors: 1 (4 pans)
• Face Paint: 2

POWDERS

• Loose Setting Powders: 3 (2 full size, 1 mini)
• Pressed Setting Powders: 2 (1 full size, 1 sample)
• Finishing Powders: 1

FACIAL SPRAYS

• Setting Sprays: 1
• Finishing Sprays: 3 (1 full size, 2 mini)

CHEEK PRODUCTS

• Face Palettes: 3 (1 duo, 1 trio, 1 six-pan)

• Powder Bronzers: 4 
• Cream Bronzers: 2

• Powder Blushes: 6

• Powder Highlighters: 11
• Cream Highlighters: 2

EYES

• Eyeshadow Primers: 1 (mini)
• Glitter Primers: 2
• Glitters: 9 (3 mini liquid glitters, 2 loose glitters, 4 full size liquid glitters)

• Liquid Liners: 7 (1 eyeliner stamp, 1 black liner, 5 coloured liners)
• Pencil Liners: 15 (1 mini, 14 full size - includes NYX Jumbo Pencil)
• Gel Liners: 4 (2 cream liners, 2 hyrdraliners)

• Mascara: 5 (3 full size, 2 mini - only 1 is open and all are black)
• Brow Gels: 1
• Brow Pencils: 1 

• Single Shadows: 22

EYESHADOW PALETTES

• Eyeshadow Palettes: 19

LIPS

• Lip Liners: 6 (1 mini, 5 full size)

• Lip Glosses: 12 (11 full size, 1 sample)

• Lipstick: 22 (2 minis, 20 full size)

• Liquid Lipstick: 36 (10 minis, 26 full size)
• Liquified Lipstick: 1 (mini)
• Lip Tints: 2

PERFUME

• Eau de Parfum: 5 (1 sample, 1 15mL, 2 100mL, 1 30mL)
• Eau de Toilette: 1 (1 30mL) 

NAIL POLISH

• Base Coats: 2
• Top Coats: 1
• Creme Polishes: 23
• Metallic Polishes: 2

In comparison to my June numbers;

Primers: -4

Body Oils: +0

Foundations: -1 (includes shade adjusting drops)
Concealers: +0 (includes each pan of colour corrector as one concealer)

Face Paint: +2
Powders: -3

Bronzers: -2

Blushes: -1

Face Palettes: -1 (moved one into my kit rather than my personal collection)

Highlighters: -1 

Brows: -2 

Eye Bases + Glitter Glue: -1 

Single Shadows + Glitters: +6

Eyeshadow Palettes: +3

Mascaras: -1

Eyeliners: +10 (including gels, liquids, and pencils)

Lip Liners: +0

Liquid Lipsticks: +3

Bullet Lipsticks: -2 

Lip Tints: +0

Lip Glosses: +2

Facial Sprays: +0

Perfumes: -5

Nail Polish: +2

Iz 🦀

Makeup I Decluttered, But I'm Keeping

MAKEUP I DECLUTTERED, BUT I'M KEEPING

This post is about makeup that I have no use for, but I want to keep anyway. This isn't makeup I decluttered and then changed my mind about and decided to keep, these are products that I'm never going to use that I have "decluttered' from my makeup collection but am keeping for one reason or another. Basically, the way I look at my collection and my makeup inventory is by usable product, and if I'm not going to use something I might as well not count it as part of my collection. 

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Lip Ammunition in Jeffree's Girl and Ex-Supermodel
I'm never going to wear these lipsticks because they're both cool toned light pink shades that look absolutely horrendous on me, and I don't really like this formula either. I find the Lip Ammunitions to be really stiff and difficult to apply, they almost hurt my lips with how much they drag and tug, and they're so matte that it's uncomfortable! These are more drying than the Jeffree Star Liquid Lipsticks in my opinion. They do stain the lips, which is both a pro and a con depending on who you are. I will say that these last really well, they're just not the most comfortable lipsticks to wear, and again I don't gravitate towards these sorts of colours. The reason I'm hanging onto these is because I love the idea of them, I think the bullet theme is super cute. I love the packaging, I keep these in my room as decorations because they're really cool lipsticks aesthetically. I got both of these in mystery boxes, and I'm glad I did because it gave me a chance to try the formula even if I don't like the colours, now I know that I don't love these lipsticks so I won't buy more in the future. I do love the shade names of these as well, I think they're super cute and fun, and that's what I like about Jeffree Star Cosmetics - everything feels true to Jeffree, it's fun and edgy and cool. 

NYX Avant Pop Palette in Art Throb
This palette holds a lot of sentimental value for me because I bought this in London (in 2016!!), and it was my first real eyeshadow palette - I'd only ever owned hand-me-down quads and duos before. I wore green and silver eyeshadow for the rest of the trip, and I was in love with the blue in this palette as a liner. The quality of this palette is honestly terrible, but I think it was great for learning how to use colour and how to use eyeshadow in general. The shimmers are alright, and the mattes are blendable, but they're a little chalky and patchy. It's workable, but the colour story isn't cohesive at all so it's a bit difficult to use and works best as a pop of colour kind of palette. I think I only had one or two eye brushes when I bought this, and I know I didn't own any blending brushes. I just think this being my first palette says a lot about my makeup style, I went straight for a brights palette over any neutrals, and I was confident enough to wear them even if I didn't really know how to use them. I don't want to completely get rid of this palette because it represents my UK trip, and the start of my love for makeup and colourful eyeshadow in particular. I know I'll never use this again because it's too old and the shadows are just a mess to work with now, but seeing it around makes me happy. 

Versace Red Jeans Eau de Toilette 
This was a gift, and I really love the bottle and the tin it came in but I hate the fragrance. It's a super strong powdery floral and I just can't handle it. Because I know I'm never going to wear this I decided to "declutter" it and just keep the bottle as a decoration. I feel bad not using this but the scent really makes me feel nauseous.

MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Snowflushed 
I bought this just because of how beautiful the pan design is, which is absolutely ridiculous. This is too dark for me too use as a highlighter and it's so glittery that I wouldn't like it as a highlighter even if it did suit my skin tone. I thought I might use this as an eyeshadow but I have literally never reached for it to put on my eyes so it's just going to waste. I'm just going to have this as a display piece in my collection, and I really need to stop falling for MAC's limited edition packaging because it's sucked me in too many times!! 

MAC Boom Boom Bloom Highlight Powder in Fleur Real
I really don't know how I'm meant to use this, it's a very light pink powder that I could maybe use as a brightening powder, but I just really don't see the point. I bought this because of the packaging and the beautiful pan design, but once the over-spray was gone I was completely lost on how to use this, I use it as a blush sometimes but it doesn't show up so what's the point? I don't want to use this anymore because I don't want to lose the cherry blossom embossing on the pan, and I have no use for the product so this is also going to become a display item. 

Iz 🦀

Ranking All My Highlighters & Blushes

RANKING ALL MY HIGHLIGHTERS & BLUSHES

For this post I'm just focusing on my single cheek products, nothing in palettes because I'm thinking of doing a similar post with my face palettes. This was inspired by Hannah who does a "Ranking All My..." series on her YouTube channel, Annette also does a series like this but I did see Hannah do this first. 

HIGHLIGHTERS

For reference, I apply powder highlighters using my Anastasia Beverly Hills A23 brush, and creams just with my fingers. For creams I pat the product onto the skin in the area I want it and then gently tap around the edges with a clean finger to blend it out. With powders I apply in a back and forth windshield wiper motion onto the cheekbones and nose, and then use small circular motions to blend out any harsh edges. Sometimes I'll use a powder or blush brush to just tap over the highlighter and diffuse it if I've gone a little overboard (I know Lipstick Nick calls this veiling but I don't know if that's the right term). 

1. Colourpop Super Shock Cheek in Flexitarian 

Flexitarian is just the most beautiful highlighter ever made. It's so reflective it looks wet on the skin. When I first bought this I didn't really love it because it is so blinding it was just a lot, but as I learnt to use it I really grew to love it. I always wear this if I'm going out, and I love this on the inner corner. It's a stunning white gold that is perfect for my pale skin. I love the texture of this highlighter, it feels almost like a cream and is super soft and bouncy, I usually apply it with my fingers just because that's what works best for me, and I hardly use any product each time I do wear this - I really hope it won't dry out because I can't imagine not having this in my collection. 

2. MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle  

When I got my makeup done for formal the artist used this on me and instantly I knew I needed it. This product just gives you the most stunning natural glow, I love layering this with blush and just having a super glowy base. Because this isn't sparkly you can use it more liberally than you would a regular highlighter. I'll apply this to cheekbones, chin, cupids bow, forehead, brow bone, everywhere honestly. I actually own two of these, one in my kit and one for personal use - that's how much I love it. This works beautiful for very light skin tones through to medium skin tones, it might be too light for deeper skin however, but I would absolutely recommend the Mineralise Skinfinish range to anyone looking for an everyday highlighter. 

3. Maybelline Master Strobing Stick Illuminating Highlighter in 100 Light/Iridescent 

In my opinion, this cream highlighter is extremely underrated. I originally bought this on a whim and I just fell in love with it, I ended up panning a whole one and repurchasing another this year because I missed it - I even tried buying what I thought would be cruelty free dupes for this product, but nothing compared. The pink tone of this is perfect for my skin, and it's glowy not sparkly, which is what I like. I love wearing this when I'm not wearing a full face, I'll just use this on my cheekbones and possibly on my body with some mascara, lip balm, and brow gel - and that was my go-to look for school for an entire year. But layered under a powder highlight this is also super beautiful! It's just a great tone, it doesn't disrupt foundation, it's smooth and creamy and I love it. 

4. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Peach Goddess

This was the first Skin Frost I ever bought, and I remember really lusting over it when it released. I was worried this might be too dark for me, and swatched it does look like it would be, but when you sheer it out on the cheek it really isn't, and it doesn't leave a weird cast either. I'm a sucker for peach tones and the gold shift in this is just beautiful. I think this is a great universal highlighter and it's the first thing from the Skin Frost range that I recommend to other people. 

5. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Princess Cut 

Not to be over-dramatic, but this highlighter was made for me. It's a frosty baby pink and I'm in love with it. This is the perfect shade for my skin, I love the tone, and it's not too frosty - I don't look like I've just stepped out of the early 2000s when I wear this. Anytime I see a baby pink highlighter I go a little crazy and just have to have it, but this one is literally so perfect for me that I have absolutely no regrets buying this. This is just great for cool toned skin in my opinion, and it would make a great blush topper too. I don't think this would look chalky on light-medium skin because it's not super light, but I can only speak to my experiences with it and for me it just blends into my skin and blush and looks really glowy. 

6. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Prismatic Amethyst 

This is the highlighter that made me fall in love with purple highlighters. What I love about this is that it has a transparent base and then just flashes this beautiful bright lavender purple, it's really stunning. It's more subtle than most of my highlighters, but I just love the duochrome, and because it has that transparent base it works for my really pale skin! 

7. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Neffree

I remember watching a review of this highlighter and someone saying that this was their number one Jeffree Star highlighter and that they recommended it to everyone, which really surprised me because this looks like it wouldn't be wearable. I was always interested in this, and once Prismatic Amethyst worked so well for me I decided I should just give it a go, and I'm so glad I did. Like Princess Cut, this just blends in really nicely with my skin, it's not so pigmented that it looks like a purple stripe on my face, it just has that beautiful purple reflect. This has a really interesting tone, it's sort of more grey toned than Prismatic Amethyst which makes this really unique. 

8. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Vanilla Quartz 

This is a pretty basic highlighter, it's a white with a gold reflect, but this is just really flattering. I've bought this for friends as a gift in the past because it can work for just about everyone. It's a good balance between natural and blinding, if that makes sense - I think where the Becca highlighters really shine is with their duochrome shades, and that's why this and Prismatic Amethyst are my favourites out of the line. If you're thinking about trying the Becca highlighters, I would suggest trying this one because it's really beautiful and wearable.

9. Too Faced Love Light Prismatic Highlighter in Blinded by the Light

I'm not going to lie, I bought this mostly because of the packaging and the pan design. I really can't decide if I like this highlighter or not because I love the colour, it's a white gold very similar to Flexitarian, but it's not a wet look, but it's still very intense and blinding. I always love how this looks in photos when I'm wearing it, and I do reach for this fairly often, but sometimes it can emphasise texture or look a little patchy - the patchiness could be because of the brush I use, but I'm not sure. 

10. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Rose Quartz 

This highlighter was a little disappointing, but I think that's because I already own Peach Goddess. This is also a peach with gold, but this is really dull in comparison to Peach Goddess - for more natural days this is nice, but I just prefer the intensity of the Skin Frosts. The gold shift isn't as strong in this either, so it just doesn't look as cool on the cheeks. 

11. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Ice Cold

This was another one that I lusted over forever, but it really disappointed me. I think I've only ever worn this maybe twice which is crazy considering how long I've owned it, but I just don't think it works for me. This is meant to be the perfect highlighter for pale skin but on my skin I find that it has sort of a green undertone and I just don't love the way it looks. I remember wearing it once and feeling really self conscious about my makeup that day because I felt like the highlighter had ruined it and I did actually get a compliment from a lady working at the Inglot counter but I just felt like it looked so terrible I couldn't take her seriously. I really need to give this another shot, but for now it just stays at the back of my drawer because I never reach for it. 

12. MAC Electric Wonder Iridescent Powder in Serenity Seeker

I think this is too dark for me so it might actually end up moving into my kit, I just got sucked in by the packaging of the Electric Wonder collection and really wanted one of the compacts at least. The marble packaging and pan were so pretty and I fell into the trap! This is a gold with a pink running through it but when you mix them it turns into a sort of bronzey shade that just doesn't work for my skin tone. 

13. Too Faced Frosted Fruits Highlighter Stick in Pink Lemonade

I really wanted this highlighter when the Tutti Fruitti collection launched and it was just about the only thing I wanted from the collection - one of my friends actually got me this for my birthday and I was really excited about it. I love the packaging with the little lemons, it smells delicious, the colour is a pink-gold shift which we all know I love, but on my skin I just don't like it. It's too glittery for me so I can't wear this just on bare skin which is how I like to wear cream highlighters, it also leaves a dark yellow-y cast on my skin and the shift is so hot pink that it just looks crazy on me. I might like this better on the body and it might be great in summer, but right now I really don't like it and it's so upsetting because I really wanted this. 

14. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Moonstone  

This highlighter is just too subtle for me, it's not glowy enough and I really don't like the colour, it's like a weird nude gold, and while it works for me, I just don't like it. This is one that I want to pan and get out of my collection because it honestly feels like a chore using this, I never reach for this because I want to wear it,  only because I know I have to use it up. I bought this because I thought it would be a good shade for my skintone and I wanted to try the Becca formula because everyone loves it, and honestly I was really disappointed. It is really smooth and performs well, but the highlighter itself is lacklustre. I'm sure that people who wear really natural makeup would love this, but that's not me.

BLUSHES

1. Flower Beauty Flower Pots Powder Blush in Peach Primrose
I'm literally addicted to this blush, I love the tone, the formula, the pigmentation. I have to force myself to use other blushes because this is just the only one I ever want to reach for. I find peaches really flattering on my skin tone, and this colour just goes with everything. This blush is super soft but not so soft that it's too pigmented, it's just really easy to pick up with a brush and applies like a dream - it doesn't need to be built up much at all and it blends really beautifully. I wish all my blushes were like this because it's just perfect. 

2. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Feisty
This blush is such an interesting colour, it's like a terracotta almost and I just think it's really cool. What I really love about this one is the formula, this lasts really well and doesn't fade throughout the day. Blush isn't something that I really ever touch up during the day, but at least with this I know my blush will be visible all day. I much prefer this shade to the other Tarte blush I own because I just prefer warm toned blushes on me, and this colour is really unique. 

3. Too Faced Love Flush Blush in Baby Love
This blush is sort of special to me because it's another one of my first high end purchases, I bought this at the same time I got the Sweet Peach palette, and that same weekend I got my first tattoo. I picked Baby Love because it seemed to be the palest of the range and at the time I didn't wear as much blush as I do now. I wish I'd picked a peach or a brighter shade because while this is beautiful, I don't reach for neutral blushes. It's a really nice formula, soft, blends well, lasts really nicely, I just never use it which is a real shame. Despite that though, I still love this blush because of the memories attached to it and how cute it is. 

4. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Celebrated
I bought this because I wanted to try the Tarte blush formula but I didn't know what colour to get so I just went with what looked like the lightest shade (I bought this online), and I regret that decision. I wish I had picked something bright and fun because this is a really beautiful blush formula, I just don't like this colour. This is similar to Baby Love but Baby Love has a gold shimmer in it and is warmer than this, and that's why I like it more. I don't like how cool toned and pale this is - it's almost mauve. 

5. YSL Couture Blush in #3 Orange Perfecto
I have so many regrets when it comes to this blush, I paid way too much for it, I don't love the formula, the colour doesn't suit me, and I got sucked in by the little envelope design in the pan! This blush is beautiful to look at in the compact, and I know I'll never get rid of it because of that, but every time I wear it I think I look sick, the yellow undertone just doesn't suit me. It's really disappointing because I did really want this blush and I was so excited for it because this was like my first luxury product. I find the formula quite stiff, it's difficult to pick up any product and the pigment is quite sheer so you have to layer a lot to get the amount of blush I like to wear, but then it becomes painfully obvious that this colour doesn't suit me. 

6. MAC Boom Boom Bloom Highlight Powder in Fleur Real 
I don't know what this product is, it barely has any pigment whatsoever. I sometimes use this as a blush because at one point in time I had convinced myself that this was doing something, but it really wasn't. I love the aesthetic of this product, but realistically it's just like a lightly pink tinted setting powder. 

7. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Regina George 

I got this in a mystery box for Christmas, and I was excited because I thought I could use this as a blush or even an eyeshadow. I literally have used this once and have owned it for nearly a year now, I just don't reach for hot pink to wear on my cheeks, and it's too shimmery to wear as a blush. Maybe if I was doing something really editorial this would work, but for what I typically wear this is just too much. It also has a really strange texture compared to my other Skin Frosts, this one feels extremely dry and rough, and it's a lot harder to pick up product than it is with the others. This one is less pigmented than the rest of my Skin Frosts, which makes sense, but is also really disappointing because I do really like the Skin Frost formula. 

Iz 🦀