elf Putty Eye Primer – Review.

Product blurb: “Our best-selling putty primer is now the perfect base for any eye look. Formulated to extend your eyeshadow wear for up to 12 hours. Amp up your eyeshadow with this color intensifying putty eye primer that locks in eyeshadow for a crease-proof look! Infused with vegan Squalane to help moisturize the eyelid while extending wear. “

I’ve been hunting about for a cruelty-free version of the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot (in Painterly) for a while. I don’t like to use concealer as an eye base – hello, creasing! Most eye primers I’ve tried are just too drying and when that’s combined with crepey lids it’s just not a good look for my aging skin. Then there’s the issue of coverage, I like to hide the veins above my socket so transparent / low opacity products aren’t much use.

L = MAC Paint Pot (Painterly). R = elf Putty Eye Primer (Rose).

As you can see, the two shades are very similar with the MAC one being slightly more peachy but they’re indistinguishable on the lid. With the elf pot you get 5.3g for £5.00 and for the MAC you’d get 5.0g for £16.50.

Application wise, the elf primer definitely blends better if you use your fingers whereas the MAC one I’ve found works nicely with a concealer brush or your fingers.

Once blended out, I’d say the Paint Pot has a smidge more coverage but I’ve found you can build up the elf primer if you want to hide a particularly noticeable vein.

L = MAC Paint Pot (Painterly). R = elf Putty Eye Primer (Rose).

In terms of longevity, they’re both pretty good on both high-end and drugstore shadows and are definitely far better than using a concealer (if you have to worry about creasing). For £5.00, this is an amazing dupe!

N.B. I apply eyeshadows straight on top (rather than setting them with a translucent powder).

Fenty Beauty Full Frontal Mascara – Review.

Product blurb “The ultimate do-it-all mascara designed for a fully exposed lash look, featuring an exclusive flat-to-fat brush that instantly volumizes, lifts, lengthens, and curls.”

I admit, I was hooked by the weird wand this product has and a Boots points weekend. This is up there in price (£21.00) but one thing I’ve noticed with higher end mascaras is that they tend to flake less for me so thought it was worth a try.

My wants for a mascara are pretty simple: don’t glom all my lashes together, don’t flake after thirty minutes, and don’t give me raccoon eyes. This one scores a 2.5 out of that three!

I really like the wand, it has a nice tapering and doesn’t pull out half a tube’s worth of product each time. I tend to just use the fat side of the brush to apply each coat and then the thinner side to try and push a bit of extra lift at the roots of my lashes.

There’s a nice separation to each lash and you can build up clumpiness, if that’s your thing. I found it to be quite a wet formula (though your mileage may vary) and end up with a smidgen on my lids but it’s easy to get off once dry.

I haven’t had this flake on me after several hours of wear each day I’ve tested it. However, it does smudge to my undereye quite easily but not drastically. Worth noting, I don’t use concealer under my eyes but just take my foundation there and don’t powder it down so some of that will be my fault.

Overall, I like this *but* for a couple of quid more I’d be more likely to repeat purchase the Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes Volume 2.

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Lancôme Skin Feels Good Foundation – Review.

Product blurb: “This lightweight foundation is enriched with skin-loving ingredients such as vegetal glycerin, hyaluronic acid and Moringa tree extracts to actively improve and protect your skin.
Its flawless sheer coverage helps to provide a healthy and radiant looking complexion, while its fresh water-made texture hydrates your skin.”

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These photos show the marked difference between the shade online and the shade in reality.

I have dryish skin, some texture, slight smile lines and tend to wear sheer to medium foundations so this seemed like a good product to try and for £26 on the Lancome website isn’t too “up there” in price for me. I also liked that they offer shades for cool undertones, however, in real life – I’m questioning what they consider to be cool as this foundation is more peach.

Even against a neutral foundation the Lancome one is quite peachy.

Dubious shade aside, the foundation’s benefits and texture made me think that this would be nice and hydrating with a natural to dewy finish. Applied over my favourite primer (Bobbi Brown “Vitamin Enriched Face Base”) with a buffing brush, it immediately showed up texture around my nose and across my cheeks.

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Holy orange, Batman, and look at that texture.

I like to give products a fair chance so I’ve since re-tried this foundation having chemically exfoliated the night before, used the thickest moisturiser I own in my AM skin routine, over the same primer, and using a beauty sponge and even though it’s better, it’s still not good.

It dries down eventually and from a distance (and in photos) looks really nice but up close you can see the slightly powdery finish and where it settles into fine lines.

TLDR: if you have even slightly dry / textured skin and having a foundation emphasise that will annoy you then I wouldn’t recommend. Also I would definitely advise swatching in a store as their product photos aren’t accurate for at least the shade I picked up.

Purchased myself.

Looks pretty in photos at least.

Revolution Fast Brow Pen Pomade – Review.

After trying the ABH DIPBROW Gel for £19 (and slinging it because I don’t have the time or patience to clean 99% of the product off the brush before using it) this looked like quite a smart take on a faster brow pomade application.

Revolution Fast Brow Pen Pomade

For a start, it’s a much more sensible £6 and comes in a nice range of tones including Ash Brown for people who want a cool coloured brow product – it’s absolutely not the auburn tone that the website shows. I also liked the look of the applicator since it’s nice and small with a teardrop shape brush to help finesse things if you have smaller eyebrows.

Silicon (ish) teardrop applicator.

The actual formula is lovely, a thinner pomade consistency and I didn’t have any issues with the actual application onto my brows. However, if you have any product that uses the “clicky button on the end to force product to the applicator” then you might guess what my major, deal-breaking complaint is!

Click. No product. Clickclick. No product. Clickclickclick. No product. Clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick. PRODUCT. Except now you’ve over clicked and there’s far too much pomade so you have to scrape some off and hope it won’t be too much for your eyebrow. Then you’re right back to click, no product.

Revolution Fast Brow Pen Pomade in Ash Brown.

If you have the patience to work with the packaging then I absolutely recommend the formula, however, if you’re looking for a quick and easy way to fill and tame your brows then I’d stick with their pot pomade or brow pencils.

Purchased myself.

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Left hand image is without product. Right hand image is with product.

Function of Beauty – First Impressions.

I’ve never really considered having “hair goals” but presented with a list on the Function of Beauty website, I decided to go with strengthen, anti-aging, volumize, and oil control. My hair hasn’t been coloured and nor do I use heat styling but I do have PCOS and the thinning that comes along with that. As for hair type, I went with wavy, fine, and an oily scalp.

Colour choice was far more simple as I’d have pink everything if I could. Scent was a little tricky since it’s difficult to tell how cloying or overpowering something will be. I went with Cherry Blossom in medium strength and it leaves a nice smell but definitely isn’t over the top.

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These bottles are 16 fl oz (or 473ml) each and cost me £39.00 (plus shipping – which was super fast if it’s coming from the USA). When I was ordering I did feel it was quite spendy but since seeing the size of the bottles I’m sure they’ll last me a good while.

I really like that the pump parts come unattached from the bottles. This means the products arrive with screw-top lids on and shouldn’t end up leaking in transit. It was a bit of a fiddle getting the tubes into the mechanism but they seem sturdy and worked first time.

So far, after just the one wash, I’m impressed. There’s no residue left in my hair, no tangles, and the scent is lovely. I’ll need to be convinced on the claims re. anti-aging, oil control etc but I’ll do a further review in a couple of months.

Also worth noting: Function of Beauty are 100% vegan and don’t use parabens or sulfates.

Purchased myself.