From low end to high end make up haul.

I hate to start a blog post with an apology but here I am; I had intended this post to go up a lot earlier. However life has been extremely turbulent over the past month as I have been physically and mentally unwell. But here I am, finally posting the make up haul I purchased over a month ago. On the upside, this post being so late means I have now tested all products included below and can give an educated opinion. I decided to mix it up with high end and low end brands so there should be something in here for everyone’s price range.

For a while now I have been obsessed with eye palettes. I had been longing to purchase an Urban Decay Naked palette for over a year but I just could not justify shelling out on such an expensive product. However, I decided to finally treat myself with money I had received for my birthday. I researched all of the palettes in the Naked range before deciding on Naked Smoky as I am such a sucker for a smokey eye. I was so impressed with the packaging as it looks and feels so luxurious.

Although expensive, I could tell that the product was worth every penny. The shades are gorgeous; my particular favourites are the first three (High, Dirtysweet, Radar) and I regularly use these three shades together as my everyday eye make up. The first 8 shades (High-Smolder) are shimmery and the last four are more matte. I have not used the matte shades as much as the others. If I am going for a more daring look, I use Slanted blended with Smolder to create the perfect purple smokey eye. The pigmentation of the shades is wonderful and they can be mixed and matched to create incredible looks. Also the product has staying power and lasts a lot longer than other cheaper alternatives. I would seriously recommend this palette to any make up lover as it is beautiful. I will be purchasing the other Naked palettes when I have funds to do so.

The second palette I purchased was the W7 Eye Colour Palette, In The Night Up In Smoke. I originally bought this thinking it could be a cheaper alternative to the UD Naked Smoky palette. However the shades are quite different. I have a few other W7 palettes so I knew what to expect. For the price (£4.99), W7 is real value for money. The  shades aren’t quite as vibrant as Naked and the packaging is certainly not as luxurious but at a fraction of the price (you could buy 5 W7 palettes for the price of 1 UD palette) this is to be expected.

_{(Shade names from left to right: All White, Bunny, NYC, Jive, Cement, Thunder, Meteor, Carbon, Diesel, Arty, X Factor, Coal)}

Honestly the variety of shades is not great within this palette. The last 7 are all quite similar greys/silvers. However, you can achieve some great results with these. The pretty pink NYC shade is beautiful and I am a big fan of X Factor and Arty but there is a severe lack of purpley shades unfortunately and this disappointed me. The lasting power is also significantly different when compared with it’s high end rival but I would still recommend on price alone.

_{(Shades from left to right: Latte, Angel, Venice, Marilyn, Copper Pot, Sun Kissed, Alice, Bad Manners, Coffee Cup, Mud Slide, Tokyo, Fashionista)}

A nude eye around Spring time is a complete essential and this second palette W7 12 Eye Colour Palette, In the Nude is perfect for creating this look. The packaging is of the same quality as the previous In The Night palette but I was a lot more impressed with the In The Nude shades. There are so many beautiful shimmery and matte shades within this palette. My personal favourites are Angel and Sun Kissed. There is also a incredible darker shade called coffee cup which would look great on people who have green or brown eyes (I have blue sad face). This palette is such a bargain, I am seriously impressed.

I love Kate Moss’ range for Rimmel, let me say that off the bat. I usually go for a darker lip as I’m quite pale and paler lip shades make me look like I’m unwell.  Despite this I decided to try Shade 40 in the Kate Moss Nude Collection by Rimmel. While I am impressed with the product as I am with most of the Kate Moss Rimmel collections, this shade is far too pale for me so I wouldn’t recommend it for those who have a similar pale complexion. There is not really much else to say about this product unfortunately.

Onto two products I now adore and have become part of my everyday make up routine; Milani Illuminating Face Powder, Beauty’s Touch and Milani Baked Blush in the shade Coralina. I cannot rave enough about how much I have fallen in love with these two. I use the Illuminating Face Powder to set my make up and it is perfect for that job as I find the matte translucent powders I used before quite dewey. This powder is so light but also gives your skin such a nice glow. The Baked Blush is beautiful too as it has flecks of gold powder. This gold tone also gives your cheeks such a lovely colour. The only suggestion I would make is to not go overboard with the blush as it is very pigmented so you do not need to use a lot at once.

Anyone who knows me will know that Estèe Lauder is my absolute number one cosmetics brand. I found the Double Wear range by accident just over four years ago after a friend gave me an unopened foundation bottle. From that second on, I have never ever tried another foundation (although I am definitely going to be trying more this year) as I am so happy with everything that Double Wear offers. First off, the packaging is so elegant. One thing to be aware of is that there is no pump but I personally do not mind this. The consistency of this foundation is perfect for me, it is SO long lasting but it never feels like it is too heavy. On the very rare occasion when I go out for the evening to a pub or a club, my foundation lasts the entire night. Although it is obviously expensive when compared with drug store foundations I find that it lasts so much longer as I use less due to the quality of the product. I always get compliments on my make up and I truly believe it is down to this foundation choice. This time around I bought two different shades; my usual Fresco and a lighter shade called Ecru as I have been finding my usual shade a little too dark. If you are looking for a wonderful high end foundation, you should definitely try Double Wear

And the final product.. although I have been using Double Wear foundation for four years, this was my first time purchasing Estee Lauder Double Wear Zero Smudge Lengthening Mascara. Again I am thoroughly impressed. My only slight niggle is that I do not particularly like the applicator as it feels a bit flimsy. Especially when compared with my previous Estèe Lauder Sumptuous Bold Volume Lifting Mascara (I told you I loved Estee!) which I will probably return to after this is finished. I would still recommend Double Wear Mascara though as the product gives significant length and volume to my ridiculous short and stumpy eyelashes. And, like it’s sister foundation, it stays in place perfectly.

And here ends my make up haul / review post! I absolutely adore make up and if you would like more of these posts or if you have any questions or comments about any of the products, please leave a comment below and I will try my best to reply 🙂