Monday, February 28, 2011

Product Reviews- Benefit, Maybelline, Urban Decay and Rimmel

I thought I'd share with you my reviews of the products I bought on Friday. I took some photos of me wearing Benefit's Posietint, Maybelline's Volum' Express One By One mascara, Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Definition Gel Eye Liner and Urban Decay's Primer Potion. I'm also wearing Revlon's Fire and Ice Lipstick and Rimmel's Exaggerate Automatic Lip Liner. The reason I wanted to write a quick review of each of these products is because I find it very helpful when I read reviews that are written by people who use the products every day and have to pay for them out of their own pocket and therefore want quality for their money.

So I bought Posietint for a few reasons, I am a huge fan of Benefit make up and I use many of their products and I love them all. I had Benetint last year and I loved it! The only problem is that a few weeks after I got it (on ebay, so it wasn't as expensive as it is full price), it fell out of my make up bag and smashed everywhere because it's in a glass bottle so that's the only thing I would say, keep it in it's box to give it extra cushion and stop nasty accidents! I didn't buy a new one after that because I wanted to teach myself a lesson in looking after my make up better. Haha!

So I knew I loved Benetint and decided I would give Posietint a go because it's a nice fresh pink colour and I thought it would be a nice change for Spring/Summer. I got it for €33.50 in Debenhams which is a big department store in the UK and Ireland. It's $28 on the Benefit Cosmetics website and on places like Sephora which translates to about €20.50 give or take a few cents. So as you can see it's a lot more expensive here than it is in the States which is pretty annoying because I would have no problem paying €20 for it at all. The only thing is that Benefit's High Beam lasts a long long time and it's the same size bottle and I'm sure this will be the same so I won't have to buy a new one for a while which is great.

I'm really liking this product so far, it's very light so if you want it to stand out a bit more I'd recommend applying two layers. It's also important to blend in lightly and quickly after brushing it onto your cheeks. I've never been a blusher girl, I prefer cream blush so much more so this is a winner in my book.

The second review is for Maybelline's One by One mascara and Lasting Definition Gel Liner. I got these in Boots for €19 together. They each had €3 off the normal price as an introductory offer. I'm always excited to try the lastest Maybelline mascara because that really is their product. I don't think I like this one as much as The Falsies, but it is very nice and looks great. The formula is a little dryer than I would like, but the brush is great and I think if the formula wasn't as dry it would be a lot better and easier to apply because it does get a bit clumpy if you don't apply it quickly. I think I'll stick to the Falsies from now on! However I was so impressed by the gel liner! I've been wanting to try gel liner for so long now, I'm sick of hearing MAC Fluidline in every make up tutorial! (Just kidding!) I wear liquid eye liner pretty much every day to work so I've gotten quite good at applying it, but there's a difference between using a felt applicator and painting it on with a brush so I wasn't sure if I would be wasting my money buying the MAC one and not being able to apply it without looking like a child did my make up.

I saw this Maybelline one and I was intrigued because of the price and because as far as I'm aware it's the first "drugstore" make up brand that's made a gel liner. I bit the bullet and gave it a shot thinking if I couldn't handle it then at least I wasn't wasting a huge amount of money. Well I'm so glad I took the risk because I really love it! I can't believe how easy it is to use. The brush is great because it's so tiny it allows you to control the exact amount of product you use. I find it a lot easier to control than my L'oreal Superliner applicator. The only problem I've had is that when I've worn it for a few hours I get black marks on my upper eyelids from opening and closing my eyelids all day because I tend to like a thicker line. It's something I'd be willing to put up with for the precision that I get from the brush.

I love this product but if you haven't got a steady hand or the patience to do it right than I'd stick with the felt applicators. I'm not giving up my Superliner just yet!

I bought Urban Decay Primer Potion after seeing and reading reviews of it. I wanted an eyeshadow primer after my Benefit Lemon Aid ran out. As much as I liked Lemon Aid it was more for colour correction and I didn't need that so I wanted to get something that was solely for holding eye shadow in place and preventing creasing which drives me nuts! I read about MACs Prep and Prime eyelid primer and Toofaced Shadow Insurance but in the end I decided to go for Urdan Decay mostly because they had a two pack of the regular Primer Potion and the Sin version in Debenhams for €22 when they are normally €17 each. I can't believe how great this is. It really does work and it makes the pigments look nicer and there is NO creasing at all. Also Sin doubles as a highlighter and as a pale gold colour cream shadow too so it looks great on its own.

I'm still debating trying out a foundation primer, but for now I'm very happy with my eye shadow primer.

I finally got a new lip liner. I'm fine without one but if I'm in work it just means I don't have to reapply my lipstick at all. This Rimmel one is just what I wanted. It's a red that matches my two favourite red lippies, it's inexpensive and it's a twisty crayon thing instead of a pencil (which means no messy pencil sharpeners!) The only negative to this is that the stick itself is very delicate and I was a bit to rough with mine and the top of it came off but that's a good lesson to learn and it reforms into a slanted point pretty easily.

So that's all my make up reviewing. Hope you found some of it helpful. I always find what works for one person may not for another and just because I love something it doesn't mean you will but I always find it helpful to get an honest unbiased opinion on a product.


NMU1


NMU2


NMU3

You can probably see the Posietint best in this photo


NMU4

How do you like the look of the gel liner?


We went out to take the photos for the next Film Style Inspiration post yesterday during a break in the weather but as soon as we got to the location it started hailing! Yes, HAILING! I couldn't believe it because it was so sunny just before we left. We decided to give up and do it another day and then of course as soon as we got home there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was gorgeous and sunny. Hopefully we'll get to take them tomorrow, I couldn't today because my mam brought me out for lunch :)


Hope you're having a great start to the week!

Emma xx

3 comments:

  1. I also took the plunge and bought the Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner. After seeing a few tutorials on how to achieve the 'winged/cat eye' effect, it seemed that most of them used a gel liner so it's partly what attracted me to buy it. I love it too, I usually wear Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eyeliner. The brush is just fabulous isn't it.

    Thanks for reviewing.


    Leanne

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  2. Emma, I loved reading your reviews about your latest beauty buys! Really like that Revlon Fire and Ice color on your lips. I like the nail polish color, too, in Fire and Ice. I will also have to check out the Rimmel Lip Liner. I have so much makeup left over from my Estee Lauder days, they were generous with their gratis. As we know, makeup does get old, I am using mine everyday, I don't want it to go to waste. Here I am ramblin' on ...
    Thank you! Hope you have a great Tuesday ♥

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  3. Ooh after reading your review I stopped into Boots and bought myself some of the gel eyeliner - I love how you've got it to look, it's just the look I go for! I'll let you know how I get on. You look gorgeous as always in those photos x

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