Weekly Makeup Bag #20

Week 20! This means that I've finally cycled through all of my eye shadow palettes (although I own more than 20, in the early weeks I'd pick a couple of palettes at a time for the weekly make up bag).

 

* Primer - The Ordinary High-Adherence Silicone Primer- Despite not really being a fan of this last week, for some reason I decided to include it again this week. If it doesn't make me feel any better towards it this week, I'll de-clutter it!

* BB Cream - The Body Shop - This is either a brave move or a bad decision for me this week. I tend not to reach for this BB Cream as it's got virtually zero coverage (see review HERE) but inspired by Meghan's natural makeup look at the Royal Wedding (and that's something I never thought I'd refer to as an inspiration!!) I wanted to celebrate my own skin (all well and good in principle, but it is something I'm brave enough to pull off?). However, I think there are much better products to enhance your skin whilst looking natural than this product - so it's going to be a decider for this BB Cream this week. After using it this morning, I was also reminded that it pills pretty badly (possibly when used in conjunction with The Ordinary primer).

* Undereye Concealer (in pot) - Inglot - If I'm going 'natural' this week then I may not be reaching for this as much. Which means that it's going to take even longer to use this up!

* Illuminator (in pot)- No7 Skin Illuminator - I've been mixing this illuminator with my DIY cushion foundation. This is more of a 'use it up' item this week.

* Powder - TonyMoly Cat's Wink

* Highlighter - Nars Copacabana Cream Highlighter Stick

* Contour - Model's Own Contour Stick

* Bronzer - The Body Shop Honey Bronze - I wanted to see if this would just pep up the Body Shop BB Cream a little bit. I also kept in the E.L.F powder bronzer from last week (not pictured).

* Blusher - Rimmel in 'Pink Rose' - This is a really delicate pretty blush, but the box is a nightmare to open and I often end up damaging a nail trying to prise it open.

* Mascara (in pot) - Elizabeth Arden Standing Ovation Mascara - This was one of my Feel Unique Pick n Mix sample selections last month. First impressions are really good - it manages to give you a soft and fluffy full eyelash effect without any clumping. It also doesn't smudge or flake and was easy to remove too. I also included the Model Co 3D Lash Primer (in pot) to give that a second chance.

* Eyebrows - Makeup Revolution duo eyebrow crayon (in pot). Also the clear Essence brow mascara (not pictured).

* Eyeshadow Palette - I Heart Revolution Chocolate Rose Gold Palette - Finally, the last palette to be chosen in my weekly makeup bag until I can start again! It's been really interesting, when using one palette for the whole seven days, to see how many of these palettes can keep it up for the entire week. It's made me realise why I used to reach for different palettes every day because I'd say that the majority of my palettes aren't actually that strong enough to hold my attention for the week.

I love this palette (I think I even chose it as 'palette of the year' last year) but there are several colours which are just 'not me' (the pinks and reds) which I am determined to try and see what I can do with them this week.

 

 

I Heart Revolution Chocolate Rose Gold Palette Swatches

 

 Keep or Toss?

How many chances do you give a product before you accept that they're just not for you? Here are this week's deciders.

 

 

 

Thoughts on last week's bag

 

Last week's makeup bag wasn't one of the most exciting weeks for me!

The Nars foundation looked far too pale and I just wasn't happy with my foundation all week - it really clung to dry patches and very obviously settled into my pores, particularly on my nose.  By Friday morning I'd had enough and took to using up foundation samples instead. The Ordinary primer didn't help at all and is on the verge of being dumped for good! The e.l.f Everyday Smoky palette was really boring, despite it being full of seemingly good everyday shades - it's just a dull palette! The Barry M Cosmic Lights Highlighter palette was a bit of a bust too - the cream highlighters were far too stodgy and nothing special. Sitting on top of the already cakey Nars foundation, they just helped to further cake-up my skin - making it look terrible - this is going to be de-cluttered! And I'm not terribly convinced that the Sleek contour palette is right for me either - I think it's a tad too dark. Such woes!

 Winners from the bag were the Essence mascara and the Nars Orgasm blush. 

Tossed last week!

Looks so adorable in the photo, doesn't it? But in reality, the creams were too stodgy and pretty 'meh'.