Previously Posted Products - Where are they now?

It's often hard to tell if a blogger has kept a lasting relationship with products - the constant influx of must-haves and holy grail items means that sometimes there's a few words and photos about a moisturiser/foundation/eyeliner and then that's it... it disappears off into the archives.
The reality is that it's not the done thing to repeat product reviews unless it's a re-purchase, but again, what do people want to read; re-buys or the newest thing on the market? It's difficult.

I thought I'd give a little bit of love to some products I've reviewed before just to ensure that you all know I really did like them and they still have a permanent spot in my make-up bag!

The Dermalogica Clear Start Welcome Matte Moisturiser (review here, click!) is still very much loved. I use it in the mornings as it provides a great base for make-up. The mattifying element means that once it has sunk in I can just buff or blend my foundation in on top and there's no slipping or sliding about! This exact moisturiser isn't available online but click here to buy the updated version of this product (!).

My HD Brows palette (review here, click!) is something I use pretty much every day - I have lost the slanted brush that came with it which is a bit of a pain but I've got a couple of brushes I can use as replacements. I use one colour strictly for my brows and then there's a darker brown that I occasionally use as a liner on my top lid.
The best bit about this palette is that I have had it since September 2011 and I still haven't hit the pan on my most used shade! That's over 2 years of use... If you're worried about the germyness then I'd like to add that I wash my brushes frequently and haven't experienced any adverse effects from not chucking it out after the recommended 6-12 months of use. Click here to buy (!)

Liz Earle's Signature Foundation (mini review here, click!) is my absolute favourite foundation for a night-out. My daily make-up doesn't require a medium coverage base so I save it for when I want to make more of an effort. It has a relatively matte finish which means I can buff in some blusher and highlighter and I don't look shiny too early on in the night - ideal for me. Click here to buy (!)

The coveted Real Techniques Stippling Brush (mini review here, click!) is definitely still in use in my house! I use it with the Liz Earle foundation and it gives a perfect finish. There's really not much more to say about this except I'm so glad I bought it. Click here to buy (!)

Finally, the Liz Earle Skin Repair Moisturiser (featured here, click!) - when I first tried this it was in the try me kit and since then I've bought at least two more pots! This is pretty much a night cream for me but it's a daily moisturiser and isn't too heavy to be used under make-up. I love how creamy it is and how luxurious it feels as it works its magic. Click here to buy (!)

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Everyday work face part 1

So this is what's on my face on an everyday work day. I work around upper school children and this is what I feel is appropriate to wear in a classroom when I'm not the student anymore, sob!!!

Liz Earle Signature Foundation in the shade Porcelain which I apply with my Real Techniques Stippling brush. These can be bought here (click!) and here (click!). The foundation is medium - light coverage and it's got a pretty good wear time, even when worn alone I think it's between 6-8 hours. My HD Brows kit in the shade Vamp is perfect for me as my eyebrows only need defining. Find it online here (click!). This powder is long lasting and easy to erase if you make any mistakes! 

 For my face products I love the Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette as the bronzer and highlighter compliment one another when used together. You can get one here (click!) and rather than using the blusher in the Naked palette I use Benefit's Dandelion because it's a little lighter and less of a statement blusher than the Urban Decay palette provides. Click here (!!!) to view it and buy online. I apply these with a range of brushes - both white bristle brushes are the same except one is a travel brush. They're Bobbi Brown Face Blender brushes and can be found here (click!) The black brush is a Mac brush but the number has rubbed off!
Around my eyes I go for the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in the lightest colour (bought here, click!), Clinique High Impact mascara in black found here (click!) and Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr cream-gel eyeshadow in the shade On and on Bronze which I reviewed here last week (click!).

 (why are these different DAMMIT IT'S SO STRESSFUL. I took them literally seconds apart!)

This is the final product - I think it's relatively natural looking whilst hiding any imperfections and evening my skintone, although you may disagree. Unfortunately as you can see make-up does not conceal a totally stroppy facial expression, oops!

HD Brows vs. Chanel Perfect Brows

As seen in my previous post I recently received the HD Brows kit in my September Glossybox. A few weeks before I’d splashed out on the Le Sourcil De Chanel Perfect Brows kit so I wanted to do a post comparing the two.

Both have very sleek exterior packaging. The shiny black is a classic look for most of the Chanel beauty products  with the trademark “Double C” logo and the HD Brows palette is closely following with the shiny black plastic and their brand logo. The font for the HD reminds me of Urban Decay slightly.

Another thing both these products have in common is a range of shades within them. The Chanel kit has 3 shades of brown ranging from medium to dark, but the HD Brows palette has 4 shades, one suitable for blondes (also doubles as a highlighter for under the brow) and the other 3 being a medium brown, a reddish brown and a dark brown/black. All of these can be worn as eyeshadows and eyeliners as well.

Each kit came with totally different tools. The Chanel palette came with a brow brush (if you look closely you can see it here, like a very tiny black toothbrush!), a set of small, round-ended tweezers and the applicator which is a small, slanted brush. The first thing I noticed about the Chanel brush is that it’s very hard. The bristles on the brush are very short and densely packed which at times means that it scrapes the product from the container, spilling excess powder and leaving a groove in the powder. It is fairly good for the actual application to the eyebrow, as long as you keep topping up the powder on the brush, but not something I would recommend to people who need a lot of precision. It’s difficult to retain a pointed finish to the eyebrow and tends to look just like a thick line with no definite end.

The HD Brows palette came with two applicators, an eyeshadow applicator and another double-ended brush (not pictured, click here to take you to the post). One end is a very thin, very soft slanted brush and one is a short, dense nib, possibly made of foam but I’m not sure. I much prefer the slanted brush in this kit to the Chanel one. It’s much softer and much easier to apply the powder to the brow with precision, avoiding a thick line. The eyeshadow applicator isn’t my favourite but that’s just because I prefer bristled brushes to these small, round applicators. They remind me of being 13 and having no idea what to do with eyeshadow!

Looking at the powder in each of these products I’d have to say that the HD Brows comes up ahead here. The colours are highly pigmented and stick well to the brush. The Chanel powders require a good scraping to gather any of the product on the brush which is a shame as there it results in so much wasted powder and aren’t as pigmented.

You can see in the swatches that the Chanel powder at the top is thick and quite smudged whereas the bottom HD Brows swatches are much more defined. It should be noted here that the Chanel swatch had to be applied about 3 times to even get a colour sample to show but the HD Brows used a single swipe and gave a defined and clear line.

Overall the HD Brows palette is definitely my favourite. The palette doubles up as an eyeshadow/liner as well as a brow filler and the colours are much longer lasting, less messy and easier to apply. I feel like I’m blaspheming saying this but the Chanel kit doesn’t even come close to the HD Brows. The only things it has that the HD kit doesn’t is a set of tweezers to get those pesky short hairs and it’s mirror is slightly magnified to get a better view of what you’re doing. If HD Brows ever came out with a kit that had those two features it would be absolutely perfect.

HD Brows retails at £19.95 and Le Sourcil De Chanel Perfect Brows is £41.00

Which would you choose?

xo xo