Post your outstanding make-up here.

fraz_babe

Hi All !

I was wondering if any one uses MAC or barry m? I have bought 4 dazzle dusts off e bay for 9.50 - sorry cant do the pound sign. And im also looking to buy a lipstick and eyeliner from barry m. I have never used barry m products but have heard good things about them and MAC.

I want to buy some MAC products. I was wondering if anyone could advice on what are the best things to buy from both? Thanks !

MrsE_2

fraz_babe wrote: »

Hi All !

I was wondering if any one uses MAC or barry m? I have bought 4 dazzle dusts off e bay for 9.50 - sorry cant do the pound sign. And im also looking to buy a lipstick and eyeliner from barry m. I have never used barry m products but have heard good things about them and MAC.

I want to buy some MAC products. I was wondering if anyone could advice on what are the best things to buy from both? Thanks !

My DD likes the barry m eyeshadows, she got 3 for £10 in Boots on Sunday:D

Tigerlily31

Hi all,

I love Urban decay, too faced and Hard candy make up- it's all pretty pricey in the shops but you can pick it up at a good price from e-bay!!! I can also recommend the aldi day and night cream and Boots botanics products are amazing and often on buy one get one half price:D I used to use Neal's Yard but can no longer afford it so botanics are a great replacement and cost effective too!!!

I love a good bargain in the name of beauty and will be trying some of the goodies suggested;)

Tigerlily x

Tigerlily31

Barry m is good too

alison6692

I love BarryM eye shadows - the sparkly pots are fab value. I wish I had ALL the colours.

Alison x

Palice

For those people feeling 'lost' in amongst all the masses of different brands, products and advertising claims, of which I was one a few months ago, through another thread on here I saw this site mentioned and eventually signed up, and it is honestly the best make up/skincare information site (hell, actually one of the best internet sites in general) I have ever seen.

It gives complete, unbiased reviews of almost every make-up and skincare brand around - especially the more expensive department store ones; it's an american site so you won't see stuff like natural collection/17/superdrug brand stuff, but there are some No7 products including protect and perfect (called something else in america though).

Aaanyway, these aren't just reviews based on what the products do to the site owner's skin (although obviously this is a big part of it) but all the ingredients are looked at and analysed for their skin benefits/detriments, all backed up with dermatological research and all these are looked at in conjunction with a product's packaging to cut through the claims and see if the products will do that they say. This is great as while people who've used the product can tell you if they think it's worked for their skin, everyone has different skin types so the advice might not work for everyone else, plus they don't know what in the ingredients has made it work (i.e. if there is a cheaper alternative with similar ingredients )

The site is organised fantastically, by brand and category, and the more you read, the more general skin care knowledge you amass. Some things I've learnt are:

• The price of products does not dictate their efficacy! For example, there are chanel skin creams reviewed on there which are mostly water, fragrance and thickener which cost hundreds of pounds, next to the olay total effects serum which is actually an excellent formulation! Products are reviewed from every price category.

• You don't need a seperate eye cream - any good moisturiser that is fragrance free is fine for use around the eyes. Eye creams are a con to make us spend more for much less product than you'd get in a moisturiser!

• If skin care cremes/serums etc are packaged in jars and contain antioxidants (which are very beneficial to skin, most of the estee lauder companies' high end moisturisers contain them ) all the antioxidants will react and dissappear once the jar is opened as air gets in. Therefore when buying a highly priced moisturiser, make sure it is not packaged in a jar!

• Avoid products with any alcohol at all in; you'd be surprised how many creams actually contain this, especially 'blemish fighting' ones, despite the fact that alcohol will irritate the skin and cause free radical damage.

• No skin cream can reduce wrinkles - these are caused by exposure to sun primarily, loss of bone density in the face, and expression (raising your eyebrows, smiling etc). The most important anti-aging cream you can buy is sunscreen! You really don't need to get a tan on your face, I mean it takes about 30 seconds to put a fake tan on this area...

God, I sound like I work for this site, I don't I just think it's a fantastic way to research what actually works, which make up looks the most natural/performs the best, and generally find a collection of products that you can keep coming back to, without having to spend money trying them all.

The downside - it is a subscription site, but the code BP50 will give you 50% off the price, bringing it down to $12 (around £7 after bank charge for international currency) and I genuinely think that it will save a high-end make up/skincare junkie hundreds!

So sorry for going on, I just get frustrated seeing people trying to wade through the sea of products out there and hope that this will help someone!

After using this site, I have discovered the following products:

• Clinique City Block SPF25/40 - a fantastic way to get your sun protection, and it's slightly tinted to even out skin tone too
• Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clearing Moisturiser - one of the few anti blemish products with no alcohol; it has salicylic acid which exfoliates the skin and gets into the pores to get rid of oil and reshape the pore, and promotes new skin growth so my skin is all fresh and glowing!
• Clinique Continuous Rescue Antioxidant Moisturiser - not packaged in a jar, there's one for each skin type and it makes my skin so perfect, glowing and healthy looking - combined with the product underneath and my dryness and pores are completely sorted!
• Clearasil Blackhead Clearing Pads with natural sea salt - same as above, but not a moisturiser (by the way, I don't have spots any more after using these two, but still use the pads as the salicylic acid is so good for getting healthy looking skin)
• Clinique Superpowder - I started using this before I discovered the site, and thought it was very good, now I see there are others (perfectly real compact makeup for example) which are meant to be even better!
• Clinique All About Eyes Concealer - you only need a teeny, tiny amount and best to be put on with a concealer brush, but complete coverage and lasts all day (and I have massive dark circles, probably because I do things like posting on this forum at 4am! :rolleyes:)
• Max Factor Colour Adapt - so creamy and buttery, but lovely, natural, sheer but good coverage especially when used with...
• No7 Dual-Protection Tinted Moisturiser - this isn't actually on the site, but the old version of it was given an excellent rating and I agree with this one, great coverage and sun protection too!
• Stila Eyeshadow - lovely, thick, full of pigment and goes on easily
• Diorshow Mascara - have tried YSL faux cils, benefit bad gal, stila major lash and many others, as well as diorshow blackout and waterproof, but this is my absolute perfect mascara for what it does - lengthens, thickens and clumps in a good way. The only problem I have is that it contains so much fragrance that occasionally it makes my eyes weep! despite this I don't want to try anything else as it's perfect in every other way.
• Body Shop Liquid Eyeliner - excellent: great, sturdy brush and lovely line, however beautypedia really recommends Estee Lauder Doublewear Liquid Liner which I will be trying next!
• Boots 17 Pencil Eyeliner - you'd be surprised how little difference there is between expensive and cheap pencil eyeliners and these were reduced to 58p in boots so I gave them a go (bought 5 lol) and they're fine for the job, go on easily and last as long as you would expect from a pencil liner.

All of these skincare products are ones that I will go back to time and time again, and the same is true for most of the make up ones too. When I run out of foundation, I will be trying Laura Mercier Foundation Powder which is described as "a superlative powder foundation that comes in seven gorgeous shades... a must-try and it’s on the very short list of today’s best pressed-powder foundations." and Clinique Perfectly Real Compact Makeup which is described as outstanding. Yay!

One last thing - and if you're still reading by this point you deserve a medal don't trust reviews you see in magazines! I was watching a documentary about skincare creams where a magazine journalist admitted they never do bad reviews, and get bribed with free stuff to review advertisers' products favourably :mad: and reading them, they basically repeat whatever claims that the companies spout :rolleyes:.

MrsE_2

Palice wrote: »

Estee Lauder Doublewear Liquid Liner which I will be trying next!

I've tried this. Its NOT waterproof, I gave it to my DD as I need PROPER waterproof.

I'm using Revlon Colorstay liquid eyeliner now, love it, best I've ever tried & YES it is waterproof:D

lolly5648

Palice wrote: »

One last thing - and if you're still reading by this point you deserve a medal don't trust reviews you see in magazines! I was watching a documentary about skincare creams where a magazine journalist admitted they never do bad reviews, and get bribed with free stuff to review advertisers' products favourably :mad: and reading them, they basically repeat whatever claims that the companies spout :rolleyes:.

Thanks for your long post - I have always suspected this about magazine recommendations.

Were any liquid foundations mentioned? I am using Clinique Supermoisture but would like a change and need a dewy finish with medium coverage.

Palice

Well there's Laura Mercier moisturising foundation, which is given an excellent rating and is described as exactly what you're looking for:

"Moisturizing Foundation would be suitable for normal to dry skin seeking medium to almost full coverage. The texture is elegantly light and creamy, leaving a beautiful, slightly dewy finish. Six of the seven colors are excellent, although shades for darker skin tones are absent. Avoid Shell Beige, which is too pink."

But it's very expensive at £32. For a slightly cheaper option, there's Estee Lauder's Resilience Lift Extreme Ultra Firming Creme Compact Makeup (phew) which is described very favourably:

"Resilience Lift Extreme Ultra Firming Creme Compact Makeup SPF 15 deserves every bit of praise I am going to heap on it. Simply put, this is one of the best, if not the best, cream foundation I’ve seen in years. Lauder has crafted a compact foundation with an in-part titanium dioxide sunscreen that has an extraordinarily smooth texture. As such, it is a dream to blend, and sets to a natural matte yet slightly moist finish capable of providing medium to nearly full coverage without looking waxy or mask-like. The formula is best for normal to dry skin not prone to blemishes, and comes in 16 shades, almost all of which are recommended. Bravo!"

It's £25 in Boots.

There's also Laura Mercier's Flawless Face Silk Creme foundation, which the name is described as "100% accurate" and given a superb review, although I think it is full coverage and more matte.

MAC's Select SPF 15 Moistureblend "gets everything right, from its elegantly creamy texture and soft glow finish to its brilliant, in-part zinc oxide sunscreen. Not a cream-to-powder makeup, but instead a plant oil–based creamy compact makeup, this blends superbly and is neither too greasy nor too slick. Coverage stays in the medium range (this isn’t an easy foundation to make sheer), but the finish keeps skin looking fresh and dimensional. Avoid the obviously peach NW25" and is £20.50.

Virtual Youth Lifting Moisture Makeup by Prescriptives has a lot of "state of the art" beneficial skin ingredients and "has a fluid, creamy texture that those with normal to dry skin will love, and applies beautifully, managing medium to full coverage without looking masklike." - I don't know where you can buy this in the UK though.

But obviously you'll want to try these out at the makeup counter to see which is right for you - hope this helps!

alison6692

wow Thanks for the long post Palice. I am off for a nosey at the site you have linked. Your post has been reallu interesting. Thanks.

Alison x