Drugstore Beauty Haul

Drugstore beauty hauls are some of my absolute favourite blog posts to read, so when I decided to pick up some new beauty bits I thought that some of you might appreciate it if I put together a blog post. I didn't go too crazy - I'm on a bit of a minimalist kick at the moment, especially as I'm supposed to be moving in a couple of months - but I did pick up everything that I've had my eye on. If you're into simple and easy-to-wear makeup then I think you'll appreciate all of these products!

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara in Brown

I've recently changed up my eyeliner (I've been using W7's Liquid Eyeliner Pot* for a really long time and fancied a change) and I've embraced wearing brown rather than black. I love the softer, smokier look of brown eyeliner and I wanted a brown mascara to wear it with. I was surprised at how few of my favourite mascaras are available in brown, so I decided to opt for a new one that I've been hearing a lot about on blogs and on YouTube. Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara comes in a very pretty pearlescent lilac tube and its got a lovely plastic brush that works to define lashes. It doesn't really do much apart from separating and elongating them (no hint of volume or lift!) but for daytime makeup I think it's a really nice choice and I'm happy that I bought it.

Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick in Nude Embrace

As Maybelline makeup was on offer (buy one get one half price) I decided to pick up one of their new(ish) matte lipsticks. I'd seen Karis - from Beauty by Karis - feature the shade Nude Embrace on her instagram last week and I decided to swatch it for myself. No joke, this is the most beautiful nude lipstick for fair complexions and as soon as I swatched it I knew that I'd be taking it home. The formula of these lipsticks is really creamy and quick thick, offering opaque matte colour with a slightly more comfortable and less drying formula than mattes from Mac, for example. Despite the initial creaminess, I do still find Maybelline's Creamy Matte Lipsticks slightly drying and the way they feel on my lips is similar to Nars' Matte Lip Pencils. However, Maybelline's Creamy Matte Lipsticks don't have the same lasting power as many matte lipsticks so I wouldn't personally go to them for dark or dramatic shades. Overall, I think that what I really like about this lipstick is the shade and the thick, creaminess of the formula, and because it's such an easy to wear colour I'm not that concerned about the lipstick wearing off throughout the day.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair

I'm running dangerously low on my Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer and instead of heading out to instantly repurchase it I thought I'd go back and try and old favourite instead. It's been a couple of years since I last used Collection's Lasting Perfection Concealers and, just as I remember, I had a little trouble with the limited shade range. The shade Fair is too light to be used anywhere other than under my eyes, but the Light shade is ever so slightly too dark for my skin. Basically, I need both Fair and Light so that I can custom mix my perfect shade but I just couldn't find both shades in any one particular store. I decided to pick up Fair and just use it under my eyes for a couple of weeks, to remind myself of how I enjoyed using it. So far I've been really pleased with the way it brightens and conceals my undereye area. It is definitely a little bit more hard work than more expensive concealers, but with a makeup sponge I find that I can achieve an even and long-lasting finish. Pretty good for a concealer that costs £4.00!

L'Oreal Infallible Lip Colour in Invincible Sable and Timeless Rose

One of my favourite lipstick formulas is Chanel's Rouge Double Intensité - the most long-wearing and comfortable formula for stay-all-day colour. However, not only are these lipsticks really expensive (clocking in at around £36.00 each) but they're also a nightmare to find. In the UK, the only place you can purchase them is in Chanel's Covent Garden store, and even then I've found that they don't carry the full colour range. So, despite adoring the formulation I just couldn't bring myself to pop into the Chanel store and drop over £70.00 on a couple of new shades. 

Instead, I spent a while scouring the drugstore for alternative formulas that might - at least in part - stand up to Chanel. I found that Rimmel's Provocalips Lip Colours had a pretty nice formula and a decent colour range (although I didn't buy any of these to try at home), and from past experience I know that MaxFactor's Infinity Lipsticks have a decent and semi-long-wearing formulation. However, L'Oreal's Infallible Lip Colours definitely won out and after the swatches wearing on my hand for well over 24 hours (even with copious efforts to remove them!) I went back and bought two shades. I wanted a bright fuchsia pink, but I wasn't convinced by L'Oreal's offering as most of the shades are packed with shimmer. Instead, I picked up a very on-trend greige nude, sans shimmer, and an ever-so-slightly shimmery daytime pink. I've had the opportunity to wear them both and I've been incredibly impressed with their lasting power. I can't yet say if they're a perfect dupe for the Chanel Rouge Double Intensité lipsticks, but for a drugstore equivalent they're pretty darn incredible! If you can stomach the drying formula (which does require a regular gloss/balm top-up) then you can go all day without needed to retouch the colour, making them pretty low maintenance. I'm super impressed and I'm hoping to put a full and in-depth review together for the coming weeks, once I've had some more time to really put them through their paces.


That's everything that I've bought recently. Have you tried any of these products before? What drugstore products are on your wishlist?

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