High-end Products Worth The Splurge

I love a good splurge. I think we have all gathered that by now. As a lover of high-end and luxury beauty products I thought I would share some products that I believe to be worth the splurge. Spending your precious pennies on a beauty product can be risky business not knowing if it will perform to your expectations or not. So if you are somebody who doesn’t buy a lot of high end products or if you are hoping to make a little splurge soon then hopefully my picks can give you a little reassurance. Even if you are a luxury fiend then maybe my picks will also offer a little push to go splurge some more, sorry!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

I couldn’t not mention one of the most hyped up high end products! The Urban Decay Naked palettes are hugely popular and for good reason. Having built up my collection of them all, I can definitely say that they are truly worth the hype and the splurge. Whilst all of them may not be necessary, I think the original palette is a great all-rounder. Full of warm bronze-y neutral tones, its a palette for everyone. Whilst the shade range is great, the quality of the shadows is also incredible. Urban Decay have really nailed a great buttery long lasting eyeshadow formula that every beauty lover needs to try! My full review of this palette here.

Charlotte Tilbury Lipsticks

I love a good lipstick especially a luxurious one. It’s always nice to treat yo’ self to nice new lipstick and what better than the queen herself Charlotte Tilbury. Her makeup line is truly exquisite and her lipsticks are no exception. Both her matte and moisturising creamy lipstick range are incredibly impressive. The matte formula is one of the best matte formulas I’ve ever tried with a seriously comfortable application and finish. Perfect for people who aren’t particularly fond of the feeling of many matte lipsticks. Her K.I.S.S.I.N.G range is also really nice offering a moisturising formula that is pretty impressive in terms of longevity! They are pricey but so worth it in mu opinion! My favourites include Bitch Perfect and Lost Cherry.

Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

I always struggle with drugstore foundations and I truly believe that splurging on a base product is so worth it! High end foundations tend to offer a much better formula in terms of how it applies and also the lasting power which is very important in a foundation. My particular favourite is Nars Sheer Glow, a great all round base. It offers a satin buildable finish that doesn’t cling to dry patches or look cakey on the skin. It also has impressive longevity making it a great reliable foundation. Definitely one to try! My full review is here.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighters 

Highlighters are just everything, right? For me, nothing quite beats the Becca formulation. Their highlighters are like no other. I have two of the pressed highlighters in Opal and Champagne Pop and my goodness are they beautiful! The give off a serious killer glow to the skin with incredible pigmentation. Although the creamy buttery texture is what makes these even more amazing. They glide on so beautifully on the skin without looking powdery or with chunks of glitter, just like smooth gold!

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

Oh how I love a good primer. From what I’ve tried, I’ve never actually found a good drugstore primer that works and none that can beat my love for the Smashbox one. I feel like this primer is a bit of a love or a hate thing but what it achieves is so impressive. The texture is probably the thing that bothers most people out of preference but for me I quite like it. It doesn’t feel greasy or slippy on the skin and leaves a smoothing effect perfecting for starting makeup. The longevity powers it has though is what makes this. Paired under foundation it takes my makeup lasting hours longer than it would have without. It is basically magic!

Nars Creamy Concealer

Another incredibly hyped product but for good reason. This concealer is well worth the extra pennies. The thick but creamy formula works wonders on blemishes and spots offering full coverage that isn’t cakey or clingy. It also wears well throughout the day unlike many other concealers that get a little drying as the day goes on. Despite the thickness, I don’t find this drying at all although I personally don’t like the texture for under the eyes however on blemishes it is a dream! Full review here.

What are your favourite high end products?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

 

The Going Out Makeup Look

Despite still being in my teen years I have a rather poor social life. I rarely venture out for nights out on the town instead favoring staying in to watch a load of crap weekend TV. Since it’s such a rare occasion I do step out I do like to up my makeup game and put in the effort. All my favourite and top makeup picks come out to play in being those trustworthy products that I know will stick around for a long night. There is no surprise really that it’s all high end products that made the cut as I do like to make good use of my investment pieces that I know work well for me. I did surprisingly head out last weekend although for a very special occasion as I headed to see One Direction in concert so obviously I wanted to look my best. There is a mix of newbies and old favourites that I have put together to form a killer night out look.

Starting with base, this is really were I put a lot of trust in my products to be long lasting and work for my skin. As always I start with primer and of course my holy grail Smashbox Photo Finish Primer excels in helping makeup last longer and still looks fresh throughout the night. I’ve never found as good a foundation as Nars Sheer Glow. It provides a buildable satin finish and blends beautifully into the skin. Another favourite from Nars is their Creamy Radiant Concealer which does the best job at concealing blemishes and redness. Mine is currently running low which does make me panic cause pricey repurchase may be necessary! In terms of concealing eyes, I start with my Bobbi Brown corrector to cancel out any discoloration under the eyes then use my Clarins Instant Concealer over the top.

On to the more exciting products to give my complexion a little bit of life. I am so excited to say that I finally own the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow Palette. This palette is what dreams are made of. It is so gorgeous. I firstly use the sculpt shade to warm up my complexion and give my cheekbones a little definition. Then I like to go a little crazy with highlighter by patting it on to the tops of my cheekbones for that intense glow. To perk up the cheeks you can never go wrong with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes in particular the shade Diffused Heat. With highlighting properties these blushes really light up the skin and don’t appear flat.

Onto the eyes. As usual my Benefit Gimme Brow for a little sweep through the brows to make them a little fuller. In terms of eyeshadow, I have been going a little palette crazy recently. I finally picked up the Urban Decay Smoky palette cause obviously I had to, right? With deep intense shades it works perfectly at creating more full on night out looks. The shimmer shades in particular in this palette are truly stunning and the shade Radar is one I am forever reaching for. For the full on dramatic eye look I like to finish by curling my eyelashes with the Shu Uemera eyelash curlers and many coats of the Benefit They’re Real mascara.

To finish off, I like to add something a little bold to the lips. I find going out gives me the perfect opportunity to crack out the bold dark shades. One shade I have been reaching for recently has been Mac D For Danger, a bold berry red shade in a matte finish that sticks around from dinner to drinks to home time.

What products do you reach for on a night out?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

 

Brands I Want To Try More Of

One of my favourite bloggers Rebecca of From Roses did a post a while back talking about some of the brands that she wanted to try more from. I totally loved the concept of the post and I thought why not do my own version. My beauty collection consists of groups of products from the same brand and then the odd ones that I’ve picked up from different brands which I’ve not really explored much further. There are so many beauty brands out there that I would love to try out more from with a range of well-loved and adored products.

Burberry: I only first dabbled into the world of Burberry beauty recently when I picked up one of their eyeshadows. They are one of the most desirable designer beauty brands out there in my opinion. Every one of their products is so beautifully packaged but also well though out. The range is a perfect size too; not too small but not too big that its overwhelming. If I had to pick one product to try out it would be their Fresh Glow foundation. The name ‘Fresh Glow’ is just screaming out to me, I can imagine such healthy flawless skin. With lightweight bases becoming ‘my thing’ I would also love to try their BB cream which again sounds so radiant and glowy. Lastly, I am still calling out for Pale Barley eyeshadow to be part of my collection, another blogger enabled purchase eh?

Clinique: You may recall my first pick ups from the Clinique line in my last post. As I said before I have been pretty impressed with the Clinique makeup range, it seems pretty appealing. I am still wanting to try out more shades from the Lip Pop range and the Cheek pop range. Although my most coveted product I would love to try is the Contour Chubby Stick, it looks like such an easy way to contour and it’s about time I got one of those chubby stick things! Also as Clinique is a skincare brand I do have good expectations for their base products. After seeing Lisa Eldridge using it in one of her videos, I would love to try the Redness Solutions base product which sounds super appealing to my skin. Also with the theme of redness I would love to try the Superprimer Face Primer which boasts a range of different primers to help correct different skin problems. Again I would love to try out the primer for helping redness as it’s something my skin still needs to combat.

L’Oreal: My only drugstore pick comes from L’Oreal. Honestly I only own two products from L’Oreal, a foundation and an eyeshadow, shocker? I don’t really know why I haven’t dabbled into the world of L’Oreal so much to be honest although I would like to try out some more of their products. Their mascaras are always highly raved about so I would love to try them out, any suggestions? Their new Infallible Matte Foundation also got a lot of loving this year when it was released in the UK so whilst matte foundations aren’t usually my thing I would love to give this one a try.

Hourglass: The brand with the most gorgeous products ever. Wow. I am still struggling to take in how beautiful their blush is. Speaking of which, I would love to get my hands on a couple more of these gorgeous blushes namely Mood Exposure and Incandescent Light. The blush formula is just so beautiful and these shades look super gorgeous. I would also love to get my hands on one of their Nude Lip Stylos particularly shade 1 which looks like a gorgeous nude pink. I am also desperate to find out what all the fuss is about with the Ambient Lighting Powders. The shade Diffused Light sounds perfect for my pale complexion. Although have you guys seen the Holiday 2015 palette!? Talk about NEED!

Chanel: The brand for the beauty lovers out there. I feel like every beauty enthusiast needs a little Chanel in their life. My Chanel wishlist is pretty much never-ending but I do have a few that make my top picks. Their Vitalumiere Aqua foundation sounds so perfect. A lightweight base which creates a glowy healthy complexion. The dream base. Their iconic Les Beiges Healthy Glow Powder is probably my most wanted Chanel product. A fine powder encased in the most gorgeous packaging. I am not the biggest powder lover but I feel like this may change my opinion. I am also loving the look of their quad eyeshadow palettes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a gorgeous little palette!

Smashbox: I am a huge fan of the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer, easily the best primer I’ve used ever. Although strangely it’s the only product I’ve tried from the brand. As their Primers are their most iconic product and I absolutely love the Photo Finish, I would like to try a couple more from the brand. Particularly the Blemish Control Primer and the Colour Correcting Primer which both sound interesting? Also anyone tried the Primer water? Pretty intriguing. Their palettes look super pretty too! I was so close to picking up the Full Exposure palette on holiday but sadly it was sold out. I would really like to try the Double Exposure palette though which has a little pop of colour but nothing too overboard. Lastly, their Contour Sticks look super good. Jaclyn Hill is a huge fan and they look super easy to use and the soft formula sounds great.

Have you tried any of these products? What brands do you want to try more from?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

 

2015 wishlist

 

New year, new long list of expensive beauty items I don’t particularly need. Last year seen the start of my makeup obsession and lets just say my purse wasn’t too happy with my shopping decisions. Getting to experiment with different brands and products has allowed me to become more aware of my makeup needs and what products I really need to achieve the best results. Its no surprise I have really took to high end brands and it looks like this year is going to be filled with trips to Space NK and House of Fraser.

Anyway on to the list, I have picked 8 items but lets be real here if I picked every item I wanted to buy then I don’t think it would be quite possible to cover them all in the one post so I’ve stuck to the top 8 most wanted.

First on the list is the best primer I’ve ever tried. Its the highly raved about Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation primer. I have had no luck with primers and I recently got a sample of this and tried it out and lets just say the results amazed me. It is pricey but its hella good. Next is the dream duo from Nars, the Sheer glow foundation and creamy concealer. You may recall seeing this on previous wishlists of mine and as you can tell I have still not spent the cash on it but this year is the year! I also want to try the Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette in Streak, it just looks so heavenly and these shades seem perfect for my pale complexion. Now that my Naked palette collection is complete I need my hands on the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. The shades look so beautiful and the palette is always the talk of good reviews so why not! Being stuck with a cheap and terrible pair of eyelash curlers is doing me no good. After hearing constant rave reviews from pretty much every blogger particularly Anna from Vivianna Does Makeup these Shu Uemura curlers are meant to be the bee’s knees. No surprise that Nars made the list again with the Copacabana illuminator which looks like such a beautiful and effortless highlighter. And last but not least after converting my usual stippling brush in favour of a buffing brush for foundation I have noticed far superior results. It is so much easier to blend but I would love to get my hands on the Bobbi Brown Full coverage brush which I have seen so many bloggers using recently. Its pricey but it seems to get flawless results.

So what is on your 2015 wishlist?