Time for a rave

And I don't mean of the early 90's Acid fueled variety.

Often times, as a make up artist, I overlook high street (drugstore) brands for higher end brands, mainly because when people pay money to have their make up done, they like it to be special and with luxury products they may otherwise never get to use.

Not long ago, I was asked to work on a film, I would be getting paid for use of special FX products, but otherwise, no moolah. I'm sure you can understand that I begrudged using my expensive products on an unpaid job, so I decided to try and find some cheaper alternatives.

Let's just say, the high street brands put me in my place. The quality available now from cheaper brands is astounding! Years ago, you never would have found a nice creamy black kohl, or different finishes in foundations in a chemist, but now, flip me, needless to say I was very pleasantly surprised.

So here are a few of my favs I have picked up along the way, I'd love to know some of your guys favourites so I can try them out!

Firstly we have the Avon Supershock Gel Eyeliner:

Originally made 'famous' by the fabulous Pixiwoo girls www.pixiwoo.com this comes in at £6.00, and let me tell you, these eyeliners are DEVINE! Now personally I am a fan of the Gel type eyeliners, I find they don't budge from my waterline when everything else I have tried does.
So naturally, when I saw they were on sale for £3.99 I bought 8. Yes, 8. Now, to be fair, they weren't ALL for me, just 3 of them. The rest I gave to some girlfriends as part of their Christmas pressies.
Now one problem I have with the supershock liners, and, it's a biggie; I'm allergic to them. Yep, can't even use them! Well, not on my waterline anyway.
But they have made an excellent addition to my kit, and I only know of one other person that has had a reaction (oddly enough, we have the same name and are basically the same person....) otherwise everyone seems to love them!
They glide on like a dream, they blend so beautifully and don't budge for anything! I really do recommend them, and I do use it on the lid, just not the waterline.

Next up, my new favourite product EVER!

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer

Hello my precious :)

Now I had heard that this concealer had magical powers or something of the sort, but I thought, mon' now, at £4.19 how good can it be?
But I bought it anyway, I wanted to see what all the hype was about.
So heading out for my birthday, I decided I would give it a whirl, and HOLY CRAP THIS STUFF IS AMAZING!!!! Yes, I just just text shouted at you.
So I thought, surely within the hour, this unbelievable coverage and silky smooth finish will either have A.gone patchy, B.disappeared, or C. a combination of both.
So off I trotted to the ladies room to touch up what I was sure was going to be a horrendous mess on my face, but oh no, smooth silky perfectly concealed skin stared back at me in the mirror, I thought it was a joke, perhaps my friends had conned stiff kitten in to installing some sort of illusion mirror in the ladies room, but oh no, it was all me! Or rather, it was all this delightful concealer! About 9 hours later I arrived home and went to take my make up off, you won't believe this, IT WAS STILL FLAWLESS!!
I don't know what these people have put in this, but it is the concealer of the gods, and for £4.19!! 

The above would be my absolute favourite gems I have come across in a chemist, but there are plenty more that hold a special place in my kit and my personal collection.

For the glitter lovers, these collection 2000 Glam Crystals put all other glitter liners I have used to shame, and I mean the so loved Urban Decay Heavy Metal liners ain't got nothing on these!
At 2.99 a pop, you can't go wrong, these are packed with glitter, and I LOVE the black liner for a bit or sparkle at the lashline on a night out.

Now, I have no doubt everyone has heard of the Sleek range, especially their palettes which retail at £6.49 for  12 shadows in beautiful packaging. I'm a big fan. Their black eyeshadow which features in every palette, is one of the blackest opaque black eye shadows I've ever come across, and let me tell you, if I've tried one, I've tried 20.
Now I know the Sleek palettes have their downfalls, the main one being the amount of fallout created by these shadows if you aren't very very careful, but ya know what, for the excellent colour pay off, the finish, and the ease of blending for such a small price, well I don't mind doing a bit of clean up.

The last brand I want to touch on today is ELF,  as they aren't available in stores in NI, I can understand the hesitation  from most people here to buy their products, but a while ago, I took the plunge.
I'm not gunna lie, some of it has been horrendous, but some products have become staples in my kit and personal routine. I think I'll do a more in depth review of the ELF products I have bought, but for now, here are a couple of my faves that I whole heartedly recommend. the products range in general from £1.50 - £3.50.

One of my more recent purchases, but so far, loving them, they are very creamy for a matte lipstick and have excellent staying power.

The blushes are gorgeous, smooth and very pigmented.

Personally I don't use a stippling brush on myself for foundation application, but I do like using it on guys or if you want a small amount of foundation. I find it gives a much lighter application.

 Finally for today, these compacts fit MAC eye shadows and at £1.50 are a hell of a lot cheaper than the MAC quads, I've bought a couple of these and use them until I have enough to fill a 15 MAC palette. Saves me some money!

This was a long one! I hope I haven't bored you all to tears, I'll probably do one of these again as there are a few other products that I love.

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Bex
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