Georgia Phelps There are 2 more posts that I want to squeeze in before 2017 comes around this weekend so here’s part one of my ‘2016 Beauty Hits & Misses.’ This edition will be all about high end products that I’ve absolutely loved and also ones that I regret purchasing or wouldn’t purchase again. Part two will be the high street addition so will feature much more affordable products. I’ve seen a few people doing this on Instagram and I do aim to do the same but firstly, I wanted to blog about them! So if you’d like to hear all about my 2016 high end hits and misses, keep reading!
Misses:
I’ve decided to start off with the more negative part of this post first as with it being Christmas, I don’t want to finish the post on a downer. I also have more ‘hits, than ‘misses’ so I’m keeping the best until last!
NARS Sheer Glow Foundation –
When I first purchased this foundation, never ever did I think I’d be finishing the year saying that I disliked it but, here we are. At first I absolutely loved this foundation. My skin looked smooth, I could achieve a medium level of coverage without it looking cakey and the colour was spot on for my super pale skin. However, I stopped using it for about 4-5 months as I fell in love with a new foundation (Smashbox Studio Skin will now forever be my favourite) and when I went back to trying out my NARS last week, it looked awful on my skin. I’m pretty confident that it’s oxidised which for me being as pale as I am is a massive no no and the texture/consistency was completely different. After just an hour of wearing it, the product was separating on my skin, looked patchy and clung to every single dry and dehydrated patch I had on my skin. I had such high hopes for this foundation and now, I’m gutted it didn’t work out for me.
Tarte Amazonian Clay Tartelette Palette –
I managed to get hold of this from QVC last year but only started giving it a go this year. Again, I had massively high hopes for this palette and it breaks my heart to say that I found personally, it isn’t worth the hype at all. I found that the shadows were really chalky in texture and because of this, no matter how hard I tried they wouldn’t blend whatsoever. There were a few shades that were exempt from this (the lighter shades) but the majority of the darker shades just bunched together and looked chunky on my skin. The packaging was beautiful, sturdy and the size of the mirror was pretty impressive for such a compact palette but unfortunately, the quality and texture of the shadows themselves let this palette down massively.
Urban Decay All-Nighter Foundation –
First of all, apologies that I don’t have my own personal photographs of this product (I hated it so much I sold it on Depop) so I’ve had to use a stock photo from Google. I literally only had to wear this foundation for one hour and my opinion was made. Not only was this foundation a complete pain in the ass to apply due to how thick it was in consistency but it also just looked awful on my skin. I was matched in the store in Covent Garden, London quite abruptly and spent a lot of money in the store, confident in my new purchases. Boy was I wrong and until I got back to Bristol, didn’t realise what a huge mistake I’d made. I’d purchased a brush with the foundation and was told it would be perfect at buffing the foundation out to be a medium level of ‘natural’ coverage as it was a fairly fluffy brush (one I’d typically pick up for a BB/CC cream) but it ended up doing the complete opposite. I had so many problems with this foundation that it’s completely put me off purchasing any Urban Decay complexion products again. When I purchased this I was told it was ‘perfect for any skin type’, would guarantee me a ‘flawless finish and complexion’ and that my colour was an ‘exact match’ so as any excited make-up shopper would do when in London during pay weekend, I bought everything the sales assistant put on my face. Now, apologies for this particular item being a massive moan, but here are the problems that I encountered:
1.) The foundation oxidised so much that within 20 minutes, I was 3-4 shades too dark, I was completely the wrong tone and had that massive dreaded orange line. I was matched to the second from lightest shade and wouldn’t consider myself extremely pale so I dread to think how somebody paler than me would get matched to a shade correctly
2.) The foundation was so thick that it physically would not blend into my skin. It was like applying paint with a roller onto my face and attempting to blend it with all my might for it to stick look streaky and patchy
3.) It is absolutely NOT ‘perfect’ for any skin type. My skin is dehydrated which means that it’s seriously lacking in water so I smother my skin in as much moisture as possible before any make-up to support this and 90% of the time, this does the job and my skin doesn’t instantly suck up my make-up. This is the only foundation where covering myself in moisturiser has made no difference at all simply because the consistency hated my skin so much. It clung to every slightly dry patch on my face, settled in lines I didn’t even realise I had and after a few hours separated completely around my nose and looked horrific
I definitely wouldn’t recommend this foundation to anybody who has dry skin in the slightest as my personal experience has been awful.
Hits:
So finally it’s time for the more positive side of this blog post and the part where I get to sing the praises of all my favourite products instead of bashing the ones I don’t like.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renassaince Palette –
I’m pretty sure that every person who has done this style of post has mentioned how utterly perfect this eyeshadow palette is. Not only is this probably the most talked about palette on social media in 2016, but it also has to be one of the quickest sell out items that has launched this year and I can definitely understand why. This palette has the ability to give you so many different looks, each one completely different to the last. I remember during the summer I took this palette away with me to Cardiff, Brighton and London and managed to create about 5 completely different eye looks with it. The pigmentation of these shadows is simply perfect. They’re incredibly soft in texture which means that with one tiny touch of a brush, you pick up so much product but due to the high quality of them, the level of fall out isn’t too bad. The packaging is made of pink suede and is absolutely beautiful to touch and look at and the brush included in the palette is perfect for both blending shades and packing colour onto the entire lid.
Chanel Le Volume Mascara –
I first discovered this mascara about 5-6 months ago when I purchased a Chanel moisturiser and was given a sample of it. For ages I’d forgotten about it and it went into my little fish bowl of samples until I decided to sort through them all and start using them up. As soon as I used this mascara I honestly say there and started to wonder how many other amazing products I haven’t yet discovered due to not trying out the samples yet. This is probably hands down one of the best mascaras I’ve ever used and I know full well that as soon as my first full sized one runs out, I will definitely be re-purchasing it. It gives intense volume, so much length, a little (but perfect amount) of curl and its jet black so makes your lashes stand out more than ever.
Smashbox Studio Skin Foundation –
This foundation has well and truly stole my heart this year and since finding this, I’ve not once touched Estée Lauder Double Wear (the foundation I believed would be my soul mate forever.) The best way of explaining this foundation is that it’s the hydrating baby sister of Double Wear who doesn’t get the amount of attention that she deserves. I always struggled with wearing Double Wear everyday as I suffer with extremely dehydrated skin and my face used to literally just suck all of the foundation up and dried it out so much more. However, Studio Skin gives me the exact same full coverage finish, the same long-wearing formula and a perfect colour match except that this foundation makes your skin still look like skin! It doesn’t give a caked powder finish and due to its self-setting formula, it stays put even without any setting spray/powder over the top. Another added bonus is that this foundation has zero flashback so if you’re a selfie addict like myself, you’ll be glad to know you won’t end up looking like a ghost!
Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Liquid Lipsticks –
I’m not sure if this product really fits into the ‘high end’ category as on BeautyBay they’re only £11.50 but I didn’t think it was a cheap enough lipstick to put into my ‘high street’ post so here we are. I first purchased one of these right at the very start of the year in the shade ‘Serenity’ and due to the fact that I have so many lip products in my collection, it was a little forgotten about for a couple of months. When sorting through my collection I remember finding it and wondering when it had even landed in my hands or where I’d bought it from. I didn’t have massively high expectations As Gerard Cosmetics was a brand that didn’t get talked about on social media constantly and I guess because I hadn’t seen it in any stores, I wasn’t completely aware of the brand itself. These are the most comfortable liquid lipsticks I’ve ever tried without a doubt. They apply beautifully, gliding on without any patchiness or bunching up and the pigmentation is so intense. They are some of the only liquid lipsticks I own that don’t feel dry and flaky in the slightest but despite this, they still stay put all day.
So there we are, my 2016 hits and misses of high end products! I apologise for the length of this post, it took absolutely ages to write so I feel your pain! Thank you so much to those of you who are reading this part as it means you’ve stuck around to read my full post! I hope you enjoyed the read and keep your eyes peeled for part 2 of this series where I will talk all about my hits and misses of high street products which will be a little more affordable too.
Lots of love,
Georgia x