High End Worth The Hype (and money)

High End Worth The Hype (and money)

I've been planning on doing a post like this for a long time. The luxury beauty industry is huge and growing and something that more and more people are wanting to buy into. But with so many new products making different claims and promising miracles it's hard to know if a product can change your life or you are basically just flushing money down the toilet for pretty packaging and a label. 

Being a student I can't claim to have a vast knowledge of luxury makeup at all. But I have been lucky enough over the last few years to try out a few different products that I would consider to be more luxury makeup (although not quite Charlotte Tilbury and Burberry, one day!). So today I wanted to talk about what I think of all of these products and whether I actually think they are worth the price tag.  

bareMinerals Primer and powder foundation

These two products are some of my most recent purchases, although I have been using them nearly everyday for a good 3 months now. I actually pretty recently did a know blogpost review on both of these products which you can read here if you want more details. Basically I really love both of these. They were recommended to me by a very good dermatologist who has converted me to mineral makeup. I really don't have the best skin but recently my attitude towards my skin has changed. Before I just wanted to cover up everything with as much makeup as possible but heavy foundation was clogging up my pores, making my skin worse and looked so cakey on my skin it was almost doing more bad than it was good. Yes, mineral foundation is a lot lighter and yes you can still see my imperfections when I wear it. But I don't mind that because you can't actually tell that I am wearing any makeup on my skin, it just looks like I have naturally better skin which I love. So would I recommend this? The answer is definitely yes. And the ladies at the counter are so helpful and well informed about choosing the correct shades for you. 

Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream

For my 16th birthday I was very lucky to be given the Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume. I loved it so much and wore it pretty much everyday until it ran out. And even then I still have the bottle in my room because it is so beautiful and occasionally I like to sniff it and it bring back so many memories. Does anyone else do that?! So when this came out and I was passing through duty free on the way to Spain this summer I decided to treat myself. The packaging and the smell were both beautiful and I couldn't resist. Up until that point the only perfume that I had ever used had been given to me as a gift, so it was nice to chose a scent that felt really personal. This is quite an expensive perfume and had it not been at duty free I'm not sure I would have bought it. But I am so happy with it. It looks beautiful on my shelf and the scent is so fresh and feminine. And actually there are more and more deals for this perfume so if you haven't yet tried it and it sounds like a scent you would like them I would recommend it. 

Clinique high impact waterproof mascara

I think I bought this with my boots points or chose it as a free gift at the clinique counter. Either way I am glad that I didn't actually pay for this as I really wouldn't have got my moneys worth. I don't really wear waterproof mascaras but I really wanted to try one to see if it would hold a curl better, stay on during the day or flake less. But this mascara is just so clumpy. I actually think something has broken or my one is missing something is the bottle that takes the excess mascara off the brush before you use it. But I'd have to spend ages trying to scrape the excess mascara on to the side of the bottle. To be honest the lasting power of this was really good. But for all of the issues that I had trying to take it off at the end of the day it really wasn't worth it. I know obviously waterproof mascara is going to be harder to take off but it was just ridiculous. I was tugging on my eyes for ages so it was really painful, I lost quite a few eyelashes in the process and when I woke up in the morning I found loads of mascara still under my eyes. So as you might has guessed I really wouldn't recommend spending your money on this one. But I am still in the market for a good waterproof mascara, so if anyone has any good ones or can point me to some reviews or blogposts I would love to know. 

Clinique bottom lash mascara

When I first got this I thought it was really amazing. For big nights out I would do loads of mascara on my top lashes and then this on my bottom lashes and it would look like false lashes. The small brush does make it a lot easier to apply mascara to your bottom lashes. But to be honest unless it is for a big occasion and I am spending a lot of time doing really special makeup then I never really reach for it anymore. There are a lot of mascaras with smaller brushes now that are just as easy to use on bottom lashes. And for nearly £20 I really can't decide if this is actually a great product or a bit of a gimmick. 

Naked Palette 2 

I think this is the first piece of more luxury makeup that I ever owned. I remember my mum had just got back from a holiday with a friend and when I walked up to my bedroom it was just there looking beautiful on my bed as a total surprise. At first it was so perfect I didn't actually want to use it out of pure fear of ruining it. Now the shadows are a bit messy and the packaging is a bit scratched and dented but it is one of my most worn and most used palettes. I've tried and loved pretty much every single colour and there are just so so many different looks that you can create from these 12 beautiful shades. Anything from a really natural daytime look to an amazing smokey eye, making this a perfect palette for taking away with you. Yes £36 may seem a little pricey at first but when you think about it that is for 12 shades. So these shades are actually only £3 each and they come all together in this sleek tin palette with a huge mirror. I honestly cannot recommend this one enough. 

Too Faced Boudoir Eyes

I got this for Christmas this year and I can't stop raving about it. I did a whole blogpost not too long ago with lots of pictures and describing all of the shades if you want to check it out here. These are more purpley pinky shades to the Naked palette but still very neutral and still very pretty. The shades are really quite unique I think but still so wearable and again you can create so many looks with these 12 shades. And I think this is even cheaper than the Naked palette and has prettier more travel friendly packing. I don't think I can actually fault this!

Clinique Chubby Stick - Two Ton Tomato

Clinique chubby sticks I think are kind of old news now and I had wanted to try them for so long. My brother kindly got this for me as a going back to university present and said he was going to miss me loads. They can be cute sometimes! I chose this red shade as I wante a red lip colour that was a bit more glossy and subtle that I could wear everyday. And this is such a great one. The formula is really balm like and glossy and the colour pigmentation is good but not really in your face so I feel confident wearing this. My only issue is it does have a bit of a funky play dough kind of smell. But it doesn't hang around and I can get past it as I really love this. And I also love doing a really thin one swipe of this for a "you lips with a bit more colour" look (not sure if that is a thing or not!). Either way, yes, I would recommend this one. Would love to try out some other shades if you have any to recommend. 

Quite a few benefit bits and pieces to talk about now. A few of these are sample from magazines and gift sets but I thought that I would include them anyway in case anyone was thinking of buying the full size of any of these. 

Benefit the POREfessional

God there was so much hype around this product when it first came out. Girls were literally swearing by this stuff! So when I managed to get my hands on a sample I was very excited. I've had a bit of a love hate with this though. At first I didn't get it and thought the texture just felt weird. Then I kept using it and decided that it was actually great and I was seriously thinking of buying the full size. And now I don't really every reach for it because when I don't use it I really don't notice any different. So if you have a real problem with large pore then maybe this is a good one for you but as just a regular primer I think there are better and cheaper products. 

Benefit Hoola Lip Gloss

Can't remember how I got my hands on this little sample but I think I have possibly worn it once. Lipgloss (apart from the maybelline coloursensational shine gloss) really isn't my think. And I don't know what else to say other than I would advise you not to waste you're money on this one as there are much better high street lipglosses. 

Benefit roller lash mascara

This is the new Benefit mascara which is really having a bit of a moment in the beauty world right now. I got this sample in last months ELLE magazine and did a little review of it a few weeks ago which you can read if you like here. The long story short is that I love this mascara and it is literally all that I have been wearing since I got it. I love the brush and the formula and the shorter bristles that are perfect for the bottom lashes. So yes, I do actually think this could be worth the price and I might have to get this once my sample runs out!

Benefit Tints - Posie Tint, Sun Beam and Cha Cha Tint 

I got a set of these little tints for my birthday last year. They are really pretty and perfect for travelling. And a great way to try out all the different colours. I probably get the most use out of Sun Beam. It's a really beautiful golden highlighter shade which gives the skin a lovely glow. I also really like Posie Tint for a natural pink tint on my lips. I think that this set is a great way to try out all of these shades. But if these weren't given to me as a gift I am not sure that they are something that I would spend my own money on. 


Hope you like this very long post. Congratulations if you have actually made it all the way to the end. And let me know if you have tried any of these products and whether you agree or disagree with me. Hopefully this will be useful to some people. Lots of love xx