During exams, I seem to become an expert in anything except my modules and this exam season my chosen topic has been beauty products. We’ve all been there; filling our basket on Boots or CultBeauty, making lists on our phones of all our desired purchases, and watching endless hauls on youtube. At this point I genuinely feel like I know Fleur DeForce better than my family.
So for this week’s blog, I’ve decided to comprise a list of my top 5 affordable beauty products – because let’s face it, even though our loans have just arrived, there is no chance we can afford a £70 contour kit.
1. If you guys haven’t checked out the Makeup Revolution collection in Superdrug, you are missing out! The Redemption eyeshadow palettes are very similar to the coveted Naked palettes, with a highly pigmented mixture of nudes both matte and shimmered. The Ultra eyeshadow palettes are also very similar to the Morphe palettes, and with all of them being priced between £4 and £8 you can hardly go wrong.
2. Wilkos make up brushes. Although you may overlook it, Wilkos is fab. Stationery, make up, sauce pans; you name it, Wilkos has it. Their brushes are synthetic and soft, with a very similar design to Real Techniques. The large face brush is particularly nice for all over powder, and their buffing brush is brilliant for applying foundation or liquid contour. These brushes are around £4, which for the quality is quite simply brilliant.
3. Another Superdrug gem is MUA’s Undress Your Skin highlighting powder. You can buy it in either pink shimmer or iridescent gold, a nice option for different skin tones. For £3 this is probably my favourite of all the products – highly pigmented and shimmery as you like, I would say it is genuinely better than the highlighting shades in the cult favourite Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit.
4. Maybelline Eye Studio Colour Tattoo is available in 12 colours and at only £4.99 you can afford to buy a few shades! They are very similar to Mac’s Pro Longwear Paint Pots, very highly pigmented and easy to apply to the eyelid with your fingers or a flat synthetic brush. They last all night (believe me) and are great to use as a base underneath powder eyeshadows.
5. My final beauty fave is a cleansing product. To take my make up off I use Garnier Micellar water (yes, I have snuck this in, but it needed a mention because it is a great product) and then to cleanse my skin I use Ultrabland by Lush. This balm cleanser is moisturising and gentle, and is designed for combination skin, so perfect for everyone. At £7.50 for 45g I’d recommend trialling this for a bit as it revolutionised my skincare routine (cringe). Balms are very ‘in’ at the moment and although I haven’t tried Emma Hardie’s Moringa Cleansing balm (because, really, who has £55 to spend on a balm), many beauty blogs claim a similarity.
I hope this review has piqued your interest in affordable beauty, and if you do check out some of the products then I hope they live up to your expectations! If not, then I hope this article has helped you effectively procrastinate…