Hello!
A few weeks ago, the Queen of beauty Jaclyn Hill posted a video called the Ride or Die Tag, discussing her all time favourite beauty products from each category. These are the products that you would stand by no matter what, and if you had to destroy your entire make up collection, you'd keep these products. She tagged everyone so I thought I would write a little post about my favourite beauty products.
Face
Primer
My favourite primer is Make Up Revolution's Aqua Priming Base. This primer is brilliant as it is super hydrating on the skin due to it being water-based. The second thing I love about this primer, is that one of the main ingredients in this is Glycerin which of course makes your make up stick and stay all day.
Make Up Revolution are also a cruelty free brand, making their products even better.
Fixing Spray
Make Up Revolution also do a Pro Fix Spray which claims to make your face and eye make up last up to 12 hours. I like to use this to help the powders on my face blend together and settle on my skin. I also like this as I don't think it changes the texture of my skin; neither making my face matte or dewy.
I use this to dampen my brushes so I can get more colour pay-off from my eye shadows. At £5 a bottle you can't go wrong!
Concealer
The Seventeen Stay Time Concealer is my go to product for my face. I don't wear foundation as I haven't found one that has blown me away. Instead I prefer letting a little bit of my natural skin show and use this concealer where I need some extra coverage.
This product covers spots and under eye circles beautifully. I use the shade 'extra fair' most of the time which also gives you a natural highlight. It's long wearing, doesn't transfer and is so cheap, which is why I love it. It is also a cruelty free brand which is a bonus!
Powder
I purchased the Seventeen Miracle Matte Pressed Powder not long ago and instantly fell in love with it.
I use the shade Ivory Porcelain, which acts as a true translucent powder for me - where other pressed powders have failed.
As you can see on the packaging, it claims to last up to 16 hours. I wouldn't say that's entirely accurate, but it does last longer than any other powders I have used.
I would recommend this powder to anyone who is just looking to set their face. It's quick and easy to use and keeps you looking matte throughout the day. It doesn't however add any extra coverage, which I personally like.
Bronzer
This is the mini version of Benefit's Hoola.
I bought this from Boots last year to try, as everyone loves it, but I didn't want to pay £20+ on the full size product. This was just less than £10, and came with a miniature Hoola brush.
I like this bronzer as it is pigmented and easily buildable. It's quite cool-toned which allows me to contour as well if I want to. The mini Hoola brush is also perfect for contouring with. A little bit of this product goes a long way, it's the only bronzer I use and I still haven't hit pan.
However, I will not be buying this product again as Benefit do test on animals. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for similar, cruelty free bronzers.
Contour
My favourite contour palette is Make Up Revolution's Ultra Contour Palette. This palette has everything you need: setting powders, bronzers, contour shades and even highlighters.
All of the powders are nicely pigmented, and super smooth and buttery which helps them to blend easily. If you're new to contouring, I would 100% recommend this.
Highlighter
My ride or die highlighter is Jeffree Star's Skin Frost in Ice Cold. This highlighter is amazing! It is the biggest pan I have ever seen for any sort of face powder, the fact that it's filled with highligher is incredible.This product is so highly pigmented; one stroke and you get a subtle glow. A second stroke and the international space station can see you. This product also looks amazing on top of a cream or liquid highlighter.
Jeffree Star Cosmetics also do not test on animals, and are vegan.
Eyes
Eyebrows
The best eye brow product I've used is NYX' Tame and Frame pomade. It is highly pigmented, lasts all day and does not smudge.
NYX are also cruelty free. However, they are owned by L'Oreal who do sell in China, which means that they must test their products on animals.
Eye Shadow
Choosing between my eyeshadow palettes was the hardest, but I've opted for Make Up Revolution's 144 Eyeshadow Palette; 2016 edition. I bought this around Christmas time for £10 at Superdrug. Unfortunately I couldn't find it online now to link it for you.
This palette has literally every colour and texture you could possibly need. With this you can create a nude look, a more colourful one or a deep smokey eye. The shadows are all very pigmented and easy to blend - even the matte shades. They also work really well when used wet.
I swatched a few of my favourite shades.
This palette has so many shades that could be dupes for more expensive shadows: for example this pink shimmery shade is such a good dupe for 'Buzz' in the Naked 3 palette.
I would recommend any Make Up Revolution palettes to anyone starting out in make up. They're affordable and great quality. They also have a range of palettes which are dupes for more expensive palettes such as Urban Decay's Naked palettes, and Too Faced's Chocolate Bar palettes.
If I had to choose single eye shadows, I would go for NYX' Prismatic single shadows. This is in the shade Fireball; a beautiful coppery red colour.
You can use these alone by applying them all over the lid and blending them out, or they look amazing blended into crease colours. They are super soft and creamy, which makes them easy to blend out.
Mascara
The only downside is that Benefit do test on animals, so I thought I would include a cruelty free alternative which I fell in love with this year.
The Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara is incredible! The one thing that lets this product down is that it transfers quite easily, especially on my bottom lash line as my lashes are so long. However, they have made a waterproof version of this product, which I am interested in trying.
This product does everything the Benefit mascara does, but adds some extra curl.
Both of these mascaras are wonderful, it just depends on what kind of wand you prefer, and also if you don't mind transfer.
Lips
Lip Balm & Primer
Next I am going to discuss my favourite lip balm, and also my favourite lip primer.
My favourite lip balm is a recent discovery, and it is Superdrug's Little Relieving Tin. I am usually not a fan of petrolatum-based lip balms, but this one is lovely. It's not too greasy or gooey, so it applies a nice thin layer of balm which really hydrates my lips. Since using this I haven't had chapped lips which tells me this product really works.
As this product is made by Superdrug, it is cruelty free. However, it is not vegan.
This product is not a primer, but I do use it as one. This is Lush's Bubblegum Lip Scrub. I use this to exfoliate my lips everyday - especially before I apply liquid lipstick. It is a sugar-based scrub so it isn't too harsh on the lips, and smells delicious. Although, isn't it weird that Lush say you can eat this product, when you've just scrubbed dead skin off of your lips? Of course Lush are actively against animal testing, and a lot of their products are vegan.
Lipstick
I have two lipsticks for this category. Jaclyn chose two: one being a regular lipstick, the other a liquid lipstick. I do not use regular lipstick, so I chose my ride or die nude lipstick, and also my ride or die bold lip colour.
My favourite nude liquid lipstick is NYX' Lip Lingerie in the shade Embellishment. This nude is such an interesting shade as it is quite purple and grey based, which looks beautiful. It is also super comfortable and lasts all day on the lips. It is really affordable and amazing quality, so really there aren't any cons.
My favourite bold liquid lipstick is Jeffree Star's I'm Royalty. This is the boldest, brightest purple lipstick I have ever seen. It's long wearing and again is really comfortable. Out of the two liquid lipsticks, I would say that I prefer this formula. In the future, I definitely want to try out more of Jeffree's nude shades.
I hope you enjoyed my ride or die beauty products! If you have any suggestions please let me know - especially if you can offer some more cruelty free alternatives. I tag you to do the same!
Heather ☾
