#gosh infinity eyeliner review

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Highstreet Gems: Affordable Beauty Favourites

Highstreet Gems: Affordable Beauty Favourites

Boots and Superdrug are my happy places and I could spend hours wandering around them, swatching products, seeing what’s new, phone in hand to read reviews as I go. Although I’m just as much of a sucker for the expensive, luxury products as the next person, there is a certain giddy excitement when I find some highstreet gems. So this blog post is dedicated to the products I use a lot that can be…

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GOSH Infinity Eyeliner Review

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As a beauty blogger I try out a *lot* of make up, receiving exciting new launches and getting to play with products is one of the best parts of my job. As I constantly have new and interesting things arriving all the time, I tend to be a bit of a floozy with my products, jumping from one to the next fairly regularly. But as I looked back over blog posts and instagram selfies from the past year, I noticed a few products that cropped up time an again. There were some products that I tended to reach for more than others, ones that found a permanent place on my dressing table. So here, for your reading pleasure, are my 2017 Beauty Favourites.

I’ll work through my 2017 Beauty Favourites in order of application, rather than preference as I can’t rank them. I’ve also added some ‘highly commended’ products at the end of the post so don’t forget to check them out, as well as letting me know your 2017 favourites in the comments.

Starting with my base, I fell in love with The Ordinary High-Adherence Silicone Primer*. Some people don’t like the slippery, silky feeling of silicone primers but I don’t mind it. This is a lightweight primer that helps smooth out my skin and improves the longevity of my foundation. If you follow me on YouTube or instagram, the inclusion of The Ordinary Serum Foundation* will come as no surprise. This little bottle of joy took me completely by surprise and I have been recommending it to everyone. You can see it in action in my review HERE.

My Sephora High Coverage concealer has now run out and I feel a bit panicky – is it wrong to plan a trip to Paris just to stock up…? It somehow manages to be high coverage enough to deal with my intense blue eyebags but light enough not to settle into fine lines and look crepey. The dream!

The Too Faced Born This Way setting powder* has featured in a lot of selfies this year. It’s very finely milled so you don’t end up looking dusty, it has illuminating properties so it’s great under the eyes, and it comes in this huge pot that will last ages.

Two incredibly affordable products to finish off my base: the Freedom Radiance highlighter palette is absolutely incredible, containing three flattering highlighter shades. If you prefer a subtle glow, you need to have a light hand as these products have an intense pay off but for me (the human glitter ball), they are perfect. The Make Up Revolution Matte Blushes are pigmented, long-lasting, and come in a large pan. I love them!

Without my eyebrows I look like a potato so I’m always on the hunt for affordable high street offerings that cater to blondes. The GOSH Brow Shape ‘n’ Fill* is flipping great: it has an angled pencil at one end and a powder at the other (which I don’t use), and comes in a lovely ashy blonde that suits me perfectly. I am yet to find something that has outlasted the GOSH Infinity eyeliner pencil in ��Carbon Black’* on my watery, sensitive eyes. I use this for tight-lining and it stays put for hours, something much pricier products struggle with!

Oh, Urban Decay Naked Heat palette* how do I love you? Let me count the ways! It’s the only palette I have brought with me on my current Japan trip which definitely Says Something. I’m a huge fan of warm-toned eye make up and this palette has it all: a range of shades, shimmers and mattes, and the pigmentation is great. I wasn’t sold on the Naked palettes but this is just dreamy. I did a post dedicated to it HERE where I showed three different looks you can achieve with the palette, whether you’re a subtle or intense eye make up person.

Lip products are my ultimate weakness so I hope you will forgive me for picking two liquid lipsticks for this entry in my 2017 beauty favourites. The Sephora Cream Lip Stains are just wonderful – they are affordable, have a huge colour range, feel comfortable on the lips, and last ages (you can see lip swatches of my collection HERE). The Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks have some seriously unique shades and I am always guaranteed to get comments from people wanting to know what I’m wearing. There are some inconsistencies with longevity within the range, but they are easy to layer/reapply so I don’t mind that too much.

I can’t remember when I first started using Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara but I can’t be without it now. I’ve tried so many others and this is still the one that gives me volume, separation and (a rare find for me) doesn’t end up printing all over my brow bone by midday.

I think you could have all guessed that Essie nail polish would be in here. The formula, the colours, the longevity, the names… I love them all and they are easily my favourite nail brand. My favourite colour to wear this year has probably been ‘playing koi’*, a gorgeous rusty orange with a strong 70s vibe (which actually came out in 2016 but is still a favourite). You can see it swatched HERE.

And that’s your lot! The products I used and loved this most this year. It was really hard to whittle down this list, there have been so many great products. So I wanted to quickly mention some that were highly commended…

Pixi Flawless Primer* (if you’re looking for a hydrating primer to add radiance and glow to grey wintery skin, this is DREAMY); Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer* (you need the tiniest, TINIEST dot to do both eyes and it will cover even the most intense eye-bags); 3INA highlighter* (subtle, glowy, and just gives really healthy looking skin) and Make Up Revolution Baked Highlights (so affordable and gives an intense highlight glow if you’re a sparkle-loving magpie like me); NYX ‘Brights’ Ultimate Shadow palette (such an incredible palette but probably not for everyone. If you want to use more colour in your make up in 2018 then this is a great place to start) and the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette* (this palette is so wearable and can easily be taken from subtle to dramatic thanks to the range of shades. Love love love!); KIKO Cream Crush eyeshadow in ‘Pearly Silver Rose’ (cream eyeshadows are foolproof and so quick. This is my go-to if I want something glitzy and eye-catching with no effort); Sephora V For Volume coloured mascara (I have the light blue, royal blue, green, and pink…and want more! Really pigmented, not flaky, and don’t smudge even on my weepy eyes. So, so good!); and finally Gerard Cosmetics HydraMatte liquid lipsticks (wonderful colours – including beautiful metallics – that last ages and don’t cost a fortune). Phew! It has been a flipping good year for my make up bag. What were your 2017 Beauty Favourites? As always, let me know in the comments below.

Lex

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2017 Beauty Favourites: My Most Used Products Of The Year As a beauty blogger I try out a *lot* of make up, receiving exciting new launches and getting to play with products is one of the best parts of my job.