Collection Shimmer Shades: Blushalicious

I have been really getting into blushes lately - I never used to get that excited over them, but recently I find myself drawn to them when shopping. I picked up this set from Collection about 4 or 5 months ago now, and haven't got rounf to writing a review on it, but since I find myself reaching for this most days, I thought I'd share my opinions on it.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a compact containing four shimmering blush shades, which can either be used individually, or you can swirl your brush around and use them all together, which creates a gorgeous coraly-pink colour.

 

All four colours make gorgeous blush colours, which will suit most skin tones, and the colour in the bottom left can also be used as a pinky highlighter to accentuate brow bones and cheekbones. My personal favourites are the two on the top row, as I find pink blush suits me more than coral ones do.

 

These are really good quality blushes too - they apply easily, don't look chalky, and will last on your skin all day, even if your skin is oily like mine. I love how versatile it is, as you are essentially getting five blush colours in one.

 

I was concerned at first that the shimmery colours would be difficult to wear, as I'm not really one for shimmery products, but in all honesty they're not too shimmery at all - there's just enough shimmer to create a healthy-looking glow to your face.

 

The packaging of this isn't the best, but for £4.19 you can't go wrong. There's also quite a large amount of product in there too (12g), so it's bound to last you a good while!

 

I absolutely adore this little compact. It's extremely versatile, contains gorgeous, good quality blushes, and is also extremely cheap. I would 100% recommend this to anyone.

 

This is £4.19 from Boots and Superdrug.

 

There is also a bronzing "shimmer shades" compact, which I reviewed here!

Collection Primed and Ready

I have had this to write about for literally the longest time - in fact, I'm now onto my third tube of this stuff so I thought it was definitely about time I reviewed it on my blog!

 

Primed and Ready is a new-ish release from Collection (formerly Collection 2000), and it is essentially just a base for your make up. I was never a fan of primers, and didn't see their use, but after using one everyday for the past few months I can't apply make up without one! A good primer should make your foundation apply smoothly and give you a flawless finish.

 

 

 

 

The packaging of this is quite simple - it's a matte black tube with bright pink writing. I personally quite like it, but obviously not everyone will!

 

As you can see, the actual primer is clear and quite thick in consistency. I can't for the life of me find an ingredients list for this, but it definitely feels like a silicone based primer. It makes your skin feel smooth and soft, but I know some people aren't too keen on the silicone based primers so if that's you then steer clear of this!

 

Collection claim that this "preps the skin, provding a beautiful base for easier make-up application and ensures your make-up remains intact throughout the day". I have to say, it does make your skin soft and smooth, and it conceals pores quite well so it does make an excellent base for your make up. The only thing I'm not 100% sold on is the fact that it keeps your make up in place all day, but in all honesty, I have yet to find a primer that is amazing at this.

 

I have seen quite a few people say that this reminds them of the POREfessional by Benefit. I have tried both of these, and although they are similar, the Benefit primer just edges this one, although to be fair, I would have expected that from the price difference between the two.

 

The only thing I will say about this is use it sparingly! If you use a small amount it works perfectly - use too much and it just won't blend into your skin and it just sort of clumps together (not nice in the slightest!).

 

Overall I really like this primer. It's the best high street primer I have tried, and if you're looking for something similar to the porefessional but don't want to fork out the massive price tag then this may just be for you.

 

This is £5.99 for 18ml and is available from Boots and Superdrug.

xx

Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades

Hello everyone!

I feel like lately I've been leaving so long between blog posts, but I don't honestly know where time is going at the minute! It's going way too fast for my liking, I can't believe we're into the 2nd week of August (I sound like an old woman here, but it's true!).

Anyway, today I thought I would write a little post about Collection 2000's "Shimmer Shades". Collection 2000's website simply says that this is "4 shimmering shades in 1 compact for a subtle, radiant glow". They have the Shimmer Shades in 2 colours, 'Way-to-Glow' (the one I have) and 'Blushalicious'. Way-to-Glow is more of a bronzing compact and Blushalicious, as the name suggests, is more of a blush compact!

The compact contains a white, champagne colour which I use for highlighting, a warm bronze and a cool bronze, which can be used for contouring, and a peachy, blush colour, which is nice, but I don't tend to use this colour as much as the other three as I have lots of blushes to choose from!

The colour payoff for all of the colours, particularly the two bronze colours, is excellent. This has become a must-have in my everyday routine, as I think it's a great multi-functional product. I really like the highlighter as it is subtle, but still really effective. Apologies for the lack of swatches on my face by the way, I took these pictures aagggessss ago and completely forgot to do any!

The packaging is not the most beautiful packaging you will ever see, but I like the fact it is see-through so you can immediately know what it is when you open your make-up bag, and it feels very well-made, so I wouldn't be too worried about it breaking if you just threw it into your bag or went travelling etc.

The staying power of this is good too, the shades generally last me all day with no touch ups. I can honestly say these last better than some more expensive bronzers I have.

They are available for £3.99 from Boots and Superdrug (Can't find it on the website to link but I know they definately sell it as that's where I got mine from!)

xx

Collection 2000 Fix Me Up Make Up Fixer

Hello everyone!

Just to start with, I always get confused as to the proper name of Collection 2000?! I thought it was meant to be changing to just Collection but I believe this is a fairly new release and it says Collection 2000 on the bottle?! Ah, confused. I'll use Collection 2000 in this as that's what the product says :)Anyway, on to the product in hand.

Collection 2000 have recently brought out a primer (Primed and Ready) and a make up fixing spray called "Fix Me Up". I had actually been looking for a relatively cheap make up setting spray as I wanted to see if they worked, and so this came at a good time for me. I saw the stand in Superdrug and so I picked one up. I didn't get the primer as I'm still using the Revlon one I reviewed here.

Fix Me Up is described as "a weightless mist that adds radiance and keeps make up in place for longer". The packaging is quite nice in my opinion, it's a black bottle with hot pink writing with the instructions on one side. It may be tacky-ish for some but I like it :)

That picture is terrible, haha! This is supposed to be the side with the instructions on. Basically, it just tells you to hold the spray 20-30cm away from your face and apply 2-4 sprays.

The product has a slight scent to it when it first comes out of the bottle, which I know will put some people off as scented products often make people break out etc etc. It's not an unpleasant smell, but it's also not one that I am particularly fond of, but it's ok as it disappears after about 10 seconds of spraying it.

I was intreged to know if it actually helped to keep your make up in place for longer, and after using t for around a month now, I believe that it does. When I apply this, I generally get around 2-3 hours more wear out of my make up than when I don't use it, which is good. I know there are more expensive setting sprays out there which probably make it last even longer but my budget doesn't stretch that far haha!

Overall, I do like this and would probably repurchase it. The only downside really is the smell, but this was not too much of an issue for me. This is priced at £5.99 for 18ml from Boots and Superdrug.

Has anyone tried this?

xx  

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer

Hello everyone,

This is something which I have used and trusted for a long while now. It's also something which many many people have heard of and blogged about, but I wanted to share my thoughts on it as it is something I use regularly and have done for quite some time so I feel I can give a fair review of it.

As you can see, this concealer comes in a packaging which almost looks like a lipgloss, and even comes with the same doe foot applicator. It is a liquid concealer, different from the other type of concealer which comes in a lipstick kind of format. I have shade 2 'Light' but off the top of my head I think there is 3/4 different shades, suiting a wide range of skin tones. The packagaing is simple, but I don't mind this. You may have heard that the black lettering rubs off the tube after a while and unfortunately this is true - you will notice black smudges on your hands but nothing major and the issue is not a problem either as it is fairly obvious what the product is without a label haha.

The consistency is fairly thick and one thing I will say about this is that it can be quite difficult to blend at times so just bear that in mind.

I have included a mole in this picture so that you can see what the coverage is truly like. As you can see, this concealer makes the mole look much less noticeable - however on spots and blemishes on the face it does in fact make them disappear altogether. Another thing to bear in mind is that this WILL cling to dry patches on the skin so moisturise thoroughly before applying this as it will draw attention to the blemish otherwise. Also be very careful to get the right shade because the wrong shade will again draw attention.

On to longevity. This concealer claims to "conceal flaws and blemishes for up to 16 hours". I can honestly say that this is completely true. I normally hate when products claim to last for so long and then they don't deliver so I was sceptical about this claim but it really is true. Another thing I noticed was that after applying the concealer onto my arm to show you in these pictures, it was so so difficult to get off! This just proves how long lasting and resistant it is to me.

Overall, I absolutely love this. It's probably the best concealer I have ever used, and I can honestly say I prefer this to Benefit's 'Erase Paste' which I have used in the past. It just goes to show how you don't always get what you pay for.

RRP £4.19 from Boots (and other places but I can't find it on any websites to link!)

What do you think? Has anyone tried this?

xx

P.S. you will notice that my pictures are bigger than before - I have my camera back yay! (I was relying on my iPhone before :( )