Current Beauty Favourites: New In My Collection

There was a point when my love for makeup kind of faded and I wasn't interested in trying new products. I got really into fashion and my love for makeup was kind pushed back. I pretty much stuck to the same products and routine. Quarantine gave me lots more time to practice different makeup looks and watch more beauty videos on YouTube, IGTV and Tik Tok. Especially after watching way too many Tik Tok makeup reviews and hauls, my love for makeup grew again. That led to purchasing new products and finding some new favourites. I thought I would do a post sharing my opinions on products I've purchased over the last few months. Some are popular products and others aren't really talked about much. Just keep reading, to hear what I've been using.

F E N T Y   B E A U T Y   P R O ' F I L T R   H Y D R A T I N G   P R I M E R

Boots are very quickly becoming one of my favourite places to buy makeup, because they always have such amazing offers and a huge range of brands. They were doing 15 percent off premium makeup, so I took that as the opportunity to try the Fenty Beauty pro'filtr hydrating primer. It has been on my wish-list for AGES, but the only thing putting me off was the price tag. It is usually £24 but I managed to get it for £18.36, due to the sale and student discount. The bottle has some weight to it, which makes it feel worth the money, but because it is frosted glass, travelling with it may not be a good idea. 

This primer feels so luxurious on the face. It has a velvet texture when you rub it into the skin but then feels like a cool gel. I've never tried a primer quite like it. There is some fragrance to this product but nothing overpowering. I like this primer because it keeps my makeup on whilst adding hydration. I have normal to combination skin (oily T-zone, normal everywhere else), but the thought of looking dry makes me uncomfortable. If anything points to hydration, I'm all for it. This primer does a great job at making my foundation look natural and healthy rather than cakey, whilst keeping it in place. In my opinion it is not as hydrating as my Too Faced Hangover primer, however I don't mind that. I like that I can count on my Too Faced one if I need that extra oompf. 

Overall, I would give this product 4/5 stars. 

E L F   H A L O   G L O W  P O W D E R 

I had heard amazing things about this powder in the online beauty community, so when I made an ELF order during their big sale, I was so excited to try it. Essentially, the aim of this powder is to set your makeup without mattifying. Like I said, the idea of looking dry makes me uncomfortable so when I heard I could set my makeup and keep the foundation as dewy as it is when I first apply it, I was READY to have this in my collection. The only place I like using matte powders is on my T-zone. 

This powder is AMAZING. It sets the makeup in place without mattifying, but somehow it isn't glittery at all. Part of me expected it to be a little bit glittery because of the 'glow' in the title, but like magic it just keeps the radiance of the base, without making it look glittery. If you have oily skin, I wouldn't recommend this product, as it won't do you any favours. I tend to avoid my T-zone with this product but use it everywhere else. Even under the eyes looks nice with it. I haven't used this for my under eyes much but when I have, there has been no problems. I have heard ELF do a Matte version of this same forumla, for those who want the matte look. I haven't tried it but my favourite beauty guru (JuicyJas), who I trust wholeheartedly, says its just as good.

This powder comes in 3 shades, which is probably my only concern. I have the shade medium, which I'm very happy with, however 3 shades isn't enough and ELF definitely need to extend their range. For that reason this product gets 4.5/5 stars. 

E S S E N C E   S H I N E   S H I N E   S H I N E   L I P G L O S S

Tik Tok made me buy this one. They literally cost £2 and everyone says they're incredible. After hearing about it so many times on Tik Tok, I got myself 2 different shades. I have behind the scenes - the clear gloss and Bright On, which is a brown nude with silver glitter. These glosses are great for the price. They're SO glossy and the applicator feels so nice. I could sit and apply it for ages. Bright on is better as a topper, rather than a gloss on its own because of the silver glitter. It's a very pigmented gloss and makes the lips look super juicy. The cons to this gloss are that it doesn't last very long and can make your lips feel really dry when it fades. It has a very similar effect to Vaseline in the sense that it feels good whilst on but then your lips feel more dry when it's gone. It doesn't last very long, which you can't really expect for a £1.99 product. To combat the dryness, I just make sure to use a good lip balm underneath and I bring it with me to re-apply in the day. 

Overall I would give this a product 3/5 stars. 

E S S E N C E   B A N A N A   P O W D E R

I ordered this powder along with the glosses because I've been wanting a new banana powder. It was only £2.99 so no breaking the bank and worth a shot. Surprisingly it's a decent powder! It's quite light-weight and doesn't look heavy under my eyes. It's definitely brightening too. It may be a little too light though, so I only use a little bit. It looks very smooth on the skin and isn't too powdery, which I didn't expect, considering the price. 

Overall I give this product 3/5 stars

E L F   M E T A L L I C   F L A R E   H I G H L I G H T E R 

The ELF Metallic Flare highlighter in the shade 24K gold is so beautiful. It's blinding, without looking powdery, which is what I love. I hate when highlighters are overly powdery and look like straight up glitter, Although there is glitter in it, when on the skin it looks seamless, especially when the light hits. It's more of a white based gold, rather than yellow gold in my opinion. I like that, as most my gold highlighters are yellow or champagne based. It's nice to have variety in your collection. I don't want to pay for all my gold highlighters to look identical. If you like more white based gold highlighters, you'll really like this. The forumla is quite finely milled and I can tell it's going to last forever. A little goes a long way. Like many ELF highlighters, you do have to scrap the top layer a little for the best pay off, which I don't mind considering how much product you get and it's not an expensive product.

Overall, I give this product 4/5 stars. 

L E S H Y É   B E A U T Y    M A K E U P   S P O N G E 

I'm not usually a huge sponge lover but I've been loving my Leshye beauty sponge! I used to only use sponges for powder, because I found that sponges didn't blend liquids as well as brushes. I needed to get a new real techniques sponge but then T'merah (owner of Leshye Beauty) came out with this sponge. I wanted to support her and I was in need of a new one anyway, so the timing was perfect. To give the sponge a fair shot, I tried blending my foundation and concealer with it and it blew me away. It blends with basically no effort or work needed. This is the first of many sponges I've tried, that I actually LOVE. It's only £6.99 and worth every penny. Her website has just gone live recently, so make it a part of your collection! I'm honestly so surprised at how good this sponge is, especially for the price. 

Overall I give this product 5/5 stars

N A T U R A L   C O L L E C T I O N   L I P L I N E R

I got this lip liner when placing my boots order for the Fenty Primer. I needed to spend £20 for free collection and this lip liner was so cheap that I thought I'd add it to my cart and give it a shot. I'm pretty sure it was £1.10 with my student discount. I actually chose the shade Espresso after it being recommended by Antoinette Victoria in a YouTube GRWM. Her lip combo was so pretty and I was shocked to hear it was from Natural Collection. For the price it's not a bad lip liner. The colour pay off is definitely there but it's not the creamiest formula. You can't expect amazing quality from a £1.99 lip liner. Like I said, for the price it's a good product! It sharpens really well and it's the perfect warm toned brown.

Overall I give this product 3.5/5 stars

E L F   H Y D R A T I N G   C A M O    C O N C E A L E R 

As I mentioned earlier, anything that points to hydration grabs my attention. People have been raving about the new ELF concealers for ages. I actually got the original camo concealer when it was released but I ordered it online and it was WAY too light. I ended up giving it to my friend because there was no way for me to make it work. I was surprised they labelled it under medium when it definitely wasn't. I didn't end up replacing it with a better shade like I had planned but during lock-down when I placed my ELF order, I thought I'd give the hydrating one a go. I didn't own any hydrating/dewy concealers so with this only being £6, I thought why not. Again, I did a terrible job at online shade matching but this time it's too dark. Typical. The good thing is that I found use for it. I got the shade medium tan and it's very orange (bare that in mind). For that reason, it's perfect as a colour corrector for my skin tone. I use it under my eyes before a lighter concealer or to help cover dark spots. I'd say its a medium coverage, so it doesn't completely hide my dark circles but it definitely helps. It looks really radiant and healthy on the skin, so I can imagine it would be a beautiful product to use if it was my correct complexion, on no makeup makeup days. 

Overall I rate this product 3.5/5 stars. 

I've tried many more products but this post would be super long. If you want to read a part 2, let me know in the comments. 

Have you tried any new products during quarantine?

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x