High End Makeup That IS Worth The Money!

As beauty bloggers and makeup lovers we all ponder the eternal question: 

IS HIGH END MAKEUP REALLY ANY BETTER THAN HIGH STREET?

ARE these cosmetics even WORTH the high price tag? Or are we just paying for fancy packaging and branding?

In my 30 years on this planet I have tried out every drugstore makeup brand available in the UK and now I'm working my way through the USA ones too! I've also tried out a large number of high end brands, So i'd say i'm qualified to comment on subjects like the one I'm now raising. 

I love drugstore makeup, I have quite an extensive collection (you can view it on my youtube channel) 

I would say that 95% of my collection is drugstore, with a few high end bits thrown in for good measure. 

I am an average working person who cannot justify paying silly amounts of money for high end makeup that I can get a dupe of for a fraction of the price in the drug store. So out of the high end things I've road tested, here are the ones that I think ARE worth the money! (Now you can buy them guilt free!)

MAC Pro Longwear PaintPots £15.00 

Mac PaintPots were a 'change your life' product for me, I use mac paintpots as eyeshadow bases, beforehand i was using various drugstore eyeshadow primers which were ok but never really amazed me. These little paintpots did amaze me! My personal favourite is Vintage Selection and i promise you that if you buy one of these you will never go back to a primer, and your eye shadow will not move! Maybelline do a dupe of these called 'Color Tattoo' which are good but nowhere near as good! The amount of product you get in these is plenty to last you 6 months with daily use! A little goes a really long way! 

Benefit Hoola Bronzer £23.50 

This is the UK's best selling bronzer, and there IS a reason for that! Given its steep price tag it is certainly a considered purchase, but one I do not regret! The colour is THE perfect brown. Not too light, not too dark, not too orange, no shimmer (perfect for contouring) and best of all not ashy. 

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Soft & Gentle

Honestly the best highlighter money can buy. It goes on, it stays on, it highlights to perfection! The nicest shade you can buy in any highlighter and I cannot find a drugstore one that can match it on shade or shimmer. 

MAC lipsticks £15.00 (Angel)

MAC are known for there awesome lipsticks, My personal favourites are Angel & Viva Glam V. Angel because it is the perfect nude pink and Viva Glam V because it is the perfect pinky beige. Mac's lipsticks are a lovely thick formula that glides on and colours in 1 swipe. No rubbing again and again to build colour. They have a really distinctive scent / taste too! Kind of like vanilla frosting! Yum!

Mac Fix+ £14.00

The controversial product that divided the beauty blogging world. MAC fix plus. Some loved it, some hated it, but everyone HAD to try it! I think a lot of the controversy that surrounded this product was that people mistakenly expected this was a 'Setting Spray' and would elongate the wear time of makeup. The truth is MAC do not claim this is a setting spray. They say it is a 'finishing mist' and before you ask - YES there IS a difference. A finishing mist simply stops makeup looking cakey and powdery and returns the face to a more natural skin like look. For this reason I LOVE Fix+ and will repurchase it again and again! It contains toners, caffeine and moisture locking ingredients too, so it can be used on bare skin as a revitalizing spray to really prep ths skin ready for makeup! Oh and it smells amazing too!

Benefit Coralista Blush £23.50

Benefit Coralista is a multidimensional peachy pink blush with an almost highlighting shimmer. It has to be swatched because it is VERY hard to describe. I think this is the most girly, pretty day to day blush the world has to offer and I can't get enough of its scent either! There are similar blushes out there but none quite manage to dupe its shimmery peach perfection, so for that reason, despite its high price tag, it makes my list.

I hope this blog helps you when deciding whether to spend or save on certain items!

Much love, 

Helen 

Eyeshadow bases - Tried & tested

I have been obsessed with eyeshadow bases recently so here are review of the ones I have tried with swatches of them alone and with an eyeshadow on top.

I tried 

Max factor masterpiece in icicle blue and icicle rose £6.99 each at boots

Wet n wild usa cream eyeshadow in pink 99p ebay.com

Dainty doll by Nicola Roberts eyeshadow base in shade 001 £1 poundland

MAC pro longwear paint pot in shade vintage selection £14.50 mac.com 

From wrist: max factor, wet n wild, mac, max factor, dainty doll

 Verdict

The max factor and wet n wild and elf have a similar formula and are very moist, the mac is very creamy and the dainty doll is only very slightly moist, it has an almost clay like texture that dries instantly.

The mac can be applied with fingers or a brush but I prefer fingers as you loose product by using a brush, and its expensive. 

The max factor and elf have inbuilt applicators which are similar to a concealer wand. 

My least favourite is the dainty doll. I find it dry and difficult to blend. The colour payoff is good but that's really the only positive I can find. 

The wet n wild is highly pigmented, cheap and a nice shade, on the downside the formula is a little bit too runny and takes a while to dry. It hasn't got the best staying power but its decent for a cheap option and gives the eyeshadow you choose to apply over it good colour payoff.

The elf is completely sheer so it was pointless swatching it but I've used it a lot and it does help eyeshadows to stay on longer, and the formula is nice. It helps with eyeshadow colour payoff. Cheap and cheerful and does a decent job.

The MAC paintpot offers multi dimensional colour and can be worn alone not just as a base, it goes on as a cream and gives you time to apply eyeshadows on top but once it dries it does not budge. At all. It's so longlasting that I fell asleep in my makeup after a party and when I got up the next morning it was still perfect! The only downside to this product is price because it costs a lot of money but in this case I do think its worth it and I will be buying it in more shades.

The max factor masterpiece really shocked me, it's level pegging with the mac in terms of it could be worn alone the pigmentation is so strong. It has lovely shimmery undertones. It's reasonably priced, very hard wearing and  makes your eyeshadows look 100% brighter. 

Based on this the max factor masterpiece is the eyeshadow base I would recommend. They are available in a range of shades in boots for £6.99 so snap some up! 

Here are the bases with similar coloured eyeshadows layered on top 

How beautiful is the blue? 

The eyeshadow palette I used was the MUA Dusk til Dawn and I used shade 6 for icicle rose max factor, wet n wild and mac, shade 10 for icicle blue max factor and shade 4 for dainty doll.

I hope you found my review helpful 

Take care, love Helen

Www.youtube.com/beautyandhelen