Beauty products that surprised you - good and bad

[Thirtysomethingnotforlong]

Hi,

So I'm in the process of switching up my look a bit, as my old make up and clothes just aren't working for me in the same way anymore.

Anyway, it's taken a bit of a toll on my bank balance, as I'm doing quite a bit of impulse/desperate buying 😬

I popped into Superdrug to browse the make up last night, without much hope tbh, as I tend to go for mid to high end brands when it comes to make up, but had a bit of free time on my hands.

Was looking for a new lipstick that was ideally matte, but not drying and a nudey colour that didn't wash me out, as I seem to need more colour these days. Thanks Peri! 🙄

I found this gem! Loreal Volume Matte lipstick in shade 640. It's gorgeous! It's a similar texture to the Powder Kiss lipstick, by Mac, but it's more pigmented and I would say more hydrating.

So what are your surprise beauty hits and misses? 🙂

Surprise hit was the Aldi 24 hour moisturiser that’s a Kheils dupe, really suited my skin and was only £2.99!

Hit.
Urban decay all nighter waterproof setting powder.
Can use on any skin tone and it does stay put .

CeraVe salicylic acid cleanser- really smoother out my skin!

NYX Fatoil lip oil- better than my dior one

Miss - hourglass foundation. Emphasises every dry flaky bit of skin, dries patchy and needs mixing with foundation to be at all bendable which cancels out its admittedly quite good coverage

Hit - lush lipsticks, hydrating formulas in lots of gorgeous colours and the cases are reusable vintage style metal cases

e.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow (£12) is SO MUCH better than my old Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter (£39), which started to smell like it had gone off after about 4-5 uses. Love a few dabs of the Halo Glow mixed into my moisturiser.

Good
NYX mascara
Catrice under-eye brightener. Fabulous product and so cheap. Saw it recommended by Bethenny Frankel as the best cheap beauty product and she is not wrong. Also works as a highlighter.
Also bought the Catrice powder in Banana today and so far so good.

Bad
Trinny Miracle Blur…a load of crap.

Aldi retinol toner, feels just like pixi
elemis marine cream, expensive but my skin is so soft and smooth

miss was Charlotte tilbury mascara, pillow talk matte lipstick and foundation was so orange

Miss Sporty studio lash mascara.
Discontinued but managed to get more from an online beauty shop.
An in flight magazine advised using it and claimed that backstage makeup artists used it over any other expensive brand.
It is very good and extremely cheap at around the £4 mark.
It was still available in Superdrug when I first started buying it.

Miss - Clinique black honey lipstick. It made my lips really tight and flakey.

Hit - made by Mitchell nude colour cases. I reluctantly jumped on the bandwagon and they are a useful bit of kit for the price.

Hit - Rimmel Wondercloud liquid eyeshadow. Been a while since a product has clung on so well to my oily lids. A lot of reviews say it makes your eyes water but not me.

Miss - the Nars velvet matte tinted moisturiser. The radiant one is great and you'd think for oily skin the matte would be even better but no. For that reason I'm dubious about trying the new Bare Minerals complexion rescue matte.

I have hundreds of misses over the years.

HIT: loads from ELF, especially the Halo Glow range. Love the Halo powder!

MISS: The Eve Lom balm cleanser. Seemed for a while it was the holy grail product but it made me, and the friend I passed it on to, both break out in horrible big spots.

The bare minerals tinted moisturiser, if that's what you mean, was all oily and gross for me.

Miss - Olaplex no. ..... what ever one you use at home. Did nothing for my hair. I get better results with food grade coconut oil left on for a couple of hours.

Hit - Estee Lauder Double Wear. God damn it. Tried so hard to find a cheaper alternative but just can't beat it.

Hit, The Ordinary 2% retinoid emulsion. Wow, smooth and taut face!

Hit - The Superdrug ME+ salicylic acid face wash, was recommended it on hear and its sorted my skin out a treat!

Miss - Maybelline superstay 24 hour foundation with Vit C, showed every line, and imperfection in my skin!

Hit - Autograph Mascara
No7 Brow mascara
Miss - Charlotte Tilbury lipstick and liner.

Hit - Nivea Eye makeover remover, I had read it was as good as the Lancôme one and was sceptical, but it really is (works well too on the glue left over from HRT patches)

Miss - Any Charlotte Tilbury item I have tried has been disappointing, can’t think of any I used more than a couple of times

I look like a bargain end of day markdown I've got that many glue patches and I have this stuff so thanks, will give it a go later

Hit: most of ELF/Nyx/Maybelline Superstay lip stuff

Miss: Charlotte Tilbury anything, especially Pillow Talk

Miss - Anything Charlotte Tilbury I’ve tried
Hit - all of Sali Hughes range.

Miss: most Charlotte Tilbury. The hyaluronic happikiss is nice, but flawless filter is godawful. I gave mine away. Most other stuff is meh.

Wow, Charlotte Tilbury isn't coming off well here! I do have one lipstick and eye shadow that I like, but I do hear a lot that it's often style over substance.

A miss for me was the Bobbie Brown colour corrector stick. I only ever hear good things about it, but I found it under pigmented and generally just disappointing. Perhaps that's because I'm looking alarmingly like Uncle Fester these days 😒 Beyond hope perhaps.

Really surprised at all the negative comments about Charlotte Tiilbury. I have a lot of her stuff and really like it all.

Miss - Erborian bb cream. God awful overpowering smell and the shade range is either far too orange or weirdly grey toned and transfers onto literally everything. Wasted lots of money buying several shades in a attempt to custom mix before throwing the lot out

Hit - Revolution pro cc creme skin perfector. Gives a flawless finish on my skin and perfect colour, performs better on me than any high end foundation & primer combo. It was a random impulse purchase from Superdrug and I'm bulk buying in case it ever disappears!

Hits:
Avon's Anew Range, specifically day and night cream.
CeraVe range.

Miss:
Anything and everything from The Ordinary.