Makeup Revolution Salvation Palette Review - Girls On Film!

Late to the game, I had somehow not tried any Makeup Revolution products until that fateful Christmas morning when I found some gems tucked away in my stocking, and I was very excited to give them a whirl.

If like me, you are new to Makeup Revolution, here's the basic low-down... A fairly new company (launching March 2014), the London based company's ethos is to create affordable, cruelty-free, and innovative makeup and skincare for people, catering to a large variety of skin colours and tones (Their 'The One Foundation' comes in 16 shades which is great for a cheaper drugstore brand). A great variety of products are available, especially for such a new company, with everything from nail polish to skincare covered.

Products start from just £1 and claim to contain only the finest ingredients.

To read more about Makeup Revolution check out their website and online store HERE

For now, let's put the spotlight on the Girls On Film eyeshadow palette.

For the £6 price tag, you will get 18 gorgeous eyeshadows - 12 shimmering metallics and 6 matte shades, including pale pinks and taupes, rich bronze colours, deep plums and navys, and dark matte greys and blacks.

These designs are familiar to most of us now, with MUA and Sleek offering up their incredibly popular, purse friendly palettes, which I am a sucker for. The Makeup Revolution offerings come middle of the price range here, but the quality of the palette itself feels like the best bang for your buck. I love having palettes to pop in my makeup bag and have a variety of shades at my fingertips on the go.

 However,  I have lost many a lid to broken hinges, leading to the dreaded 'tuck it against the side' or 'if I just face two broken palettes face to face...' makeup bag disasters and a fair amount of product mess and wastage. 

The Makeup Revolution one feels sturdy and solid in comparison, and I find the overall look of the packaging more attractive to look at - It gives off a sense of quality far beyond it's pricing. Not forgetting of course, the lovely big mirror (and one of those cheap applicators that I'd lost within minutes).

Now onto what truly matters, what's inside. 

I really like the mix of shimmery shadows and matte colours, and this gives you more to work with if this was your eyeshadow staple on the go. The colour range is fantastic, whilst nothing too bold and all fairly earthy shades, I would truly use each and every one, which I can't say of many of my other palettes (I LOVE the darker bronzes and the dark plum). 

The shimmery shades definitely have a better colour pay off and intensity than the matte, whether this is to do with the different presentation of them I am not sure. The pigment in them applies really well on the eye, and the texture is gorgeous - soft and clump-free. I have also found in the past some cheaper eyeshadows effect the colour of my eyeliner throughout the day, this was no problem here. Some touching up is necessary if you're wanting it to last all day, but nothing leaving you looking like you just did a dodgy job in the first place.

There is a good variety of matte colours in there too. some more muted, neutral shades which would be great for a basic eye makeup if you weren't feeling up to the glitter that day, a good brown that can be used for eyebrows or some softer lining, and a black and grey for a bit of smokeyness. 

I am loving the Girls On Film palette lots, and it truly is a daily go-to at the moment, if you're looking for a budget friendly, fairly neutral palette then I would absolutely recommend it!

Thanks for reading & be sure to let me know your thoughts or other recommendations I should try from the brand!

Coming up... Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette Sugar and Spice Review!

xxx

You can get your hands on the Girls On Film palette in many Superdrug stores, on the Superdrug Website, or the Makeup Revolution Website.

What's In My Makeup Bag? #2 EYES

I always enjoy 'What's In My Makeup Bag?' blog posts. I like to know what people are using day to day and what they like enough to consider them essentials in their makeup bags, so I thought I'd do one of my own!

I don't have a huge makeup bag, and I don't think I carry around an excessive amount of products, but everyone has different opinions of what is essential and what they're likely to want or need throughout the day, so here's mine...

EYES

Eyeshadow: I'll often throw the eyeshadow I put on in my makeup bag before I go out, but there are a couple that I always keep on me. The first is Collection 2000 Colour Intense Trio Eye Shadow in the shade Sandcastle. This has 3 shimmery nude shadows, a very pale cream, a slightly darker beige, and a warm light brown. I think this trio has a great selection for everyday makeup, and can be built into a couple of different looks and can work to adjust a lot of looks if you forget to put your eyeshadow in your bag or if you don't want to carry a lot around.

I also have my Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette in Bad Girl in my handbag. While a lot of colours in the palette are very dark or bold, they can be used lightly to create a wide range of looks, and it's great to have in your bag if you're going out for the day and night, as it's easy to make a neutral day look into an evening one with a smokey eye. It also has two great nude shades in it, Innocence (a frosty white) and Gullible (a frosty beige) which I use a lot for a wash of colour on the lids in the daytime.

Eyeshadow brush: I don't like to carry a lot of brushes in my makeup bag, so I just carry my eyeshadow brush from FCUK as I find good for most looks or touch ups I may need to do.

Eyeliner: I love liquid liners, and personally find them relatively easy to do on the go or touch up quickly. At the moment I'm using 2true Effortless Waterproof Eyeliner and am loving it. It lasts really well, applies accurately, and is opaque so it doesn't require numerous coats. I used to always carry a black kohl pencil or gel liner for my waterline, but have been needing a new one for quite a while since my Maybelline gel liner (which I really liked) dried out and it hasn't been top of my makeup priorities. When I repurchase one, it will undoubtedly live in my makeup bag everyday.

Mascara: I always have two mascaras in my makeup bag. I'll keep a waterproof mascara in there at all times (I'm currently using NYC Showtime Waterproof Mascara) to apply over my normal mascara if necessary or if I want to make it last a bit longer (this isn't scientific fact, just something I like to do!). I then will put in the mascara I am using at the time after I've put it on. I tend to alternate between Benefit's Bad Gal Lash Mascara, George's Lash X-Treme Mascara, and Rimmel Volume Flash Scandal'Eyes Mascara (all in black) depending on the look I want, as I find they all give me different effects.

Read my review of Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara here!
http://beautyimaginarium.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/glamour-and-benefit.html

Read my review of George Lash X-Tend Mascara here!
http://beautyimaginarium.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/george-lash-x-tend-mascara.html




Read Part One of What's In My Makeup Bag? here! http://beautyimaginarium.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/whats-in-my-makeup-bag-1-face.html

Part Three coming soon!

Thanks for reading! xxx

E.L.F Reviews (Part Two) - Concealer, Eyeshadow, Nail Polish, and Bronzing Brush!

E.L.F Tone Correcting Concealer (Retails for £1.50)
I didn't have high hopes for this concealer, not because of the brand, price or the look of it on the site (I did buy it after all), but because I bought it in the shade Rosy Beige, whereas I would normally buy foundations or concealers in Ivory or their palest, or close to palest, option. However, Ivory was out of stock and this looked like the next palest shade.

I think I got carried away by the fact I needed a new concealer, it was the main reason I went to try E.L.F to be honest, and by the price. I would normally run a mile from pink toned foundations or concealers, as I have some pink to my skin which I am keen to tone down or cover up.

I do actually like the product. I like the formula, the packaging and the way it applies to the skin. It has a doe foot applicator which is great if you want to pinpoint blemishes. In order for me to get use out of this shade, I am using it as an under eye concealer, as I do often have dark circles and I know that orange or pinky shades are meant to counteract the blue. For this job, it is working great.

One thing I was unsure of is the scent. When on the website it said 'Scent - Sugar Orange' I didn't think much of it until I received the product and gave it a go. It does have a definite sweet orange scent to it, not overpowering, but the smell is definitely there. I didn't particularly mind this, and as I am using it around my eye area it is unnoticeable anyway. However, if you are sensitive to scents, and would use this around the nose and mouth, this might not be for you. From the E.L.F website it also looks like this concealer comes in quite a good shade range, especially for people with darker skin tones, who I know tend to struggle to find products catered to darker skin on the high street.
I generally like this product a lot, and I think it's a great concealer. It's a shame it's not really my shade but I'd definitely buy this product in Ivory when it is back in stock.


E.L.F Duo Eye Shadow Cream (Retails for £1.50)

I was really excited to try this product. I loved the colours in the Sugar Cookie duo, and normally am a big fan of cream eyeshadows. While obviously there will always be some cream eyeshadows that crease, they generally work very well for me, possibly as I have drier skin.

This product did not work well for me. On the packaging it arrived in it claimed to be longwear, crease resistant and blendable. I'm not really sure how they can even make the claim that it's longwear or crease resistant. Within minutes of putting it on my lids, it was creasing and over a half an hour period I had to run my finger back over it to fix it several times.

Seeing that it was not going to work well for me to go out in, I put an eyeshadow over it. This did seem to stop the creasing, and my shadow didn't crease throughout the day either, so as a base for eyeshadows this product could be great.

However, I didn't buy this for a base to other eye colours. I bought it because I loved, and still love the colours in this duo. One half is a beautiful shimmery pale pink, and the other is a lovely glittery gold. If this product had of worked for me, I'd have been over the moon because I loved the shades, and think it would have made a gorgeous look for summer. It's also a real shame because the duos look to come in amazing colours, and I would have undoubtedly bought more if the formula had have been better.

I'm not keen to waste a product though, and luckily the colours I bought it in work really well as a subtle blush and a golden highlighter for the summer when I won't be wanting to use a lot of powder products, as I prefer a dewy and glowy look.


E.L.F Nail Polish (Retails for £2.50)

I am a nail polish addict. I've been trying to ration myself lately to use up some of my existing ones before they dry up or go too thick, but when I saw Passion Pink on the E.L.F site, I couldn't resist.

The colour looked beautiful on the website, but I have to say I didn't personally think that the colour that arrived looked the same. Online it looked like a kind of milky opaque pink, without any shimmer. The Passion Pink that I got was much more of a hot pink with a gorgeous metallic gold running through it.

I have to say though, while this might be bad in other cases, I was very happy with the colour in the end. I love it a lot more than the one on the site, and it just looks a much more interesting and fun colour than I thought it was going to be.

I usually prefer nail polishes without shimmer, just cos I prefer the look of block opaque colours. But I love this. The shimmer is really subtle but still beautiful, so it doesn't look like you have really sparkly nails. The gold running through it is really different as well, and will be perfect for the summer months (if they ever arrive...).

It applies really well to the nail, although sometimes there's more product on the brush than there looks so that can lead to the odd accident. A lot of nail polishes have too thin a brush with them, but I felt like this was just the right size and would only take one or two strokes to cover the nail.

I'm normally the kind of person that really layers up nail polish. I like it to look quite thick and to be completely opaque, but with this I did two coats, and felt it looked great without keeping on adding more. I found it dried relatively quickly as well, as long as you don't layer up before it's properly dry, which is good because I am really impatient and will inevitably touch something and ruin it all. It lasts relatively well on the nail. Over 3 or 4 days I didn't have any chips (and I didn't use a top coat), however there was some wear on the top edge of the nail where some had worn off, but not noticeably.

I also like that the formula is apparently 'infused with Vitamin E for stronger, healthier nails', so you don't feel like you're doing damage to your nails.


I'm over the moon with this nail polish, and will be looking into the other colours in the future. But be warned, it may not look the way you thought when it arrives!

E.L.F Bronzing Brush (Retails for £1.50)

I'd tried contouring before, but never really had the right brush for it, and I had seen that a lot of people owned this angled brush from E.L.F so was keen to buy one.

Although the website calls it the Blushing, Bronzing and Blending Brush, the brush itself just says 'Bronzing Brush' on it. I don't think I'll use it for blushing or general bronzing because I prefer bigger, rounder brushes for that. But for contouring and highlighting I found it just right. The angle allows you to be really precise and as it's not too thick, you aren't left overdoing it.

I really like this for contouring and am pleased I bought it, but for other purposes I would probably look to other brushes.


That's all my E.L.F purchases done. I am on the whole really happy with them, and will definitely be looking to E.L.F in the future for my make-up needs. I am quite a fan of make-up shopping and looking at and testing products in person though, and found it quite hit and miss as someone who normally buys high street brands which, even when you buy online, you are aware of what you're getting. But for these prices, the quality for these prices, and the range I think E.L.F is brilliant!


(E.L.F Review Part One - http://beautyimaginarium.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/elf-reviews-part-one-eyeshadow-eyeliner.html)

xxx

Bronzing Brush - £1.50 - http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~43.htm

Cream Eye Shadow Duo - £1.50 - http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~67.htm

Nail Polish - £2.50 - http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~62.htm

Tone Correcting Concealer - £1.50 - http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~68.htm

E.L.F Reviews (Part One) - Eyeshadow, Eyeliner, and Lash and Brow Mascara!

So I got a bit carried away and ordered 7 products from the E.L.F website last week. Having never owned an E.L.F product, I was very excited to try them out, and have been incorporating them into my everyday make-up routine since they arrived.

E.L.F Single Eyeshadow in Totally Teal (Retails for £3.75)

I had my reservations about the colour of the free Studio eyeshadow I got with my order.

Don't get me wrong, I love a freebie, however as it's not a colour I would normally wear I was dubious as to whether I'd get any real use out of it, as opposed to if it were more of a neutral shade.
However, the colour is gorgeous and beautifully pigmented, so I have set about finding ways I could use it for different looks. In the summer I sometimes like to have a natural or golden eyeshadow on my lid and line the underneath with a blue or green, and this worked really well for that with a damp liner brush.

It's very buildable, so you can use it for a wash of teal over the lid, or for a really dramatic heavy eye look. It says on the packaging that the product is crease and fade resistant. I haven't worn it all over the lid for a long enough period of time to really test this, but it did last well as a liner, and there was no fall-out from it, despite it being pigmented. If the product really is crease and fade resistant, it would be fantastic for make-up looks for nights out. It can also be applied wet for a more intense and longer lasting colour.

From the website, the other shades in this range all look beautiful as well, and I'd definitely be keen to try this product in one of the softer colours as I really like the consistency and pigment of the product, as well as how well it applies.

E.L.F Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Black (Retails for £1.50)

I've never been a huge fan of eyeliner pens. While they are good for precise application and don't give you the leaking or smudging problems that some pencils or liquid liners do, I've always found the nib to dry out quickly or the colour to just not have the intensity or be as opaque as I'd like. I'm willing to accept this is probably just me being fussy. When I wear eyeliner on my upper lashline I like it to be very defined and opaque, not necessarily thick, but I just don't like the look of smudgey eyeliner or undefined liner on me.

But I thought it was time me and eyeliner pens tried to settle our differences. As (hopefully) summertime approaches, I won't always want to be wearing a lot of make-up, and while I love the liquid liner look, it might tend to look a bit heavy for everyday when I'm not out and about doing anything special. It also appealed to me that this pen is waterproof as in the warmer weather I am a big fan of waterproof eye products that you don't have to worry about melting off of your face or transferring.

The nib for this pen is fantastic. It's really thin so you are able to achieve a great eyeliner flick, and you can build it to be as thin or thick a line as you fancy. When I applied this eyeliner, it stayed in place all day, and it stayed put through some tricky eyeliner odds.

However, I did find it quite hard to make my liner as intense as I like it, but as I've said I bought this for the days when I don't really want that look, so I think it's something I'd get used to. But if you are looking for a good intense solid eyeliner line, I wouldn't buy this product for that.
If you like subtle but defined, then I think this product could really be for you, and it is fantastic for that look.

E.L.F Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara

I really love having my eyebrows well shaped and defined. I feel like good eyebrows really pull a make-up look together. I use a No7 Amazing Eyes Pencil in number 10 Brown to lightly fill in and shape my brows, but have often found that sometimes the hairs will fall out of place. I have in the past used a tiny bit of Vaseline over them to keep them in place, but it's not very resistant, so I have been wanting to buy a clear mascara for a while.

It's been one of those products that hasn't been top of my list, so I always forget it when shopping, however I am so glad I finally bought one. I think it is brilliant and is now a necessary step in finishing my make-up off. The packaging says the formula has protein conditioning properties, but doesn't describe what that does. It could possibly help promote the growth of lashes and eyebrows, but I couldn't be certain.

The product has one end for lashes and one for brows. While I'm sure the lashes end would work just as well for brows and vice versa should you run out of mascara. The brow wand is slightly thicker than the lashes wand, and isn't tapered. It applies perfectly to the brows and allows them to be shaped however you want them.

The formula dries fully, so you feel really assured that your brows won't be moving, and it doesn't leave them looking glossy, coated in product, or anything that would make them look unnatural. The mascara has worked really well for me both over colour I've used for my brows and just on them naturally for a simpler, more everyday look.

I have also been using the clear lash mascara for my bottom lashes. I often find putting black mascara on my lower lashes can look a bit much on me for the daytime, and can make them look a bit long and spidery. So this was a great alternative to define them, whilst looking natural. It would also work really well over black mascara if you wanted to experiement with glossy looking lashes.

This product is a firm favourite of mine and I will be repurchasing when I run out!



Hope you enjoy reading! So far I am really pleased with my E.L.F buys and definitely think, with the prices and the variety, that I could be onto a new personal favourite brand!

xxx

Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara - £1.50 - http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~12.htm
Waterproof Eyeliner Pen - £1.50 - http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~101.htm
Studio Single Eyeshadow - £3.75 - http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~145.htm