all about maybelline

I’ve been collecting make up for years. Don’t worry, I’m not a hoarder – well, any more. I ended up clearing out my make up drawer the other day and throwing out about five different half empty foundations. I don’t know why I still had them; I probably thought that the time would come when I’d be in desperate need of a whole load of foundation that I didn’t like and didn’t even match my skin. You know, that day might come. Probably not, though.

I digress. What I was trying to say was that, while I love some high end brands and products, I am a poor student and I have  to get most of my make up from the High Street. I think a lot of people are similar, so I decided to create a series of posts about ‘drugstore’ brands and my experiences with them. We’re starting off with Maybelline,  a brand I have a lot of experience with.

Read on!

The Mascaras

Big Eyes Mascara in Waterproof Black (£8.99, available here)

The Falsies Mascara in Waterproof Black (£7.99, available here)

Maybelline mascaras are often regarded as some of the best drugstore mascaras, and I’d have to agree. The ones I’ve tried (and over the years I think I’ve had most of them) don’t seem to clump on my lashes and they look really good. I mentioned the Big Eyes Mascara in my July favourites because of the cute tiny brush for lower lashes.Maybelline’s waterproof formulation is pretty steadfast and requires a good oil-based make up remover to get rid of it. This is good for me during the summer as my eyes tend to water a lot, but it may be worth bearing in mind if you don’t like mascaras that are hard to remove.

Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara in Medium Brown (£4.99, available here)

I am not convinced that this does anything at all to my eyebrows. The brush is kind of big and unwieldy, so it’s not easy to use. Also, I’ve never noticed it depositing any real colour on my eyebrows. Maybe it’s holding my eyebrows in place all day, which I am obviously grateful for. However, something called Brow Drama should really have a noticeable effect on your eyebrows. I do not think that this does.

They are not 'beaten up'. They are 'well loved' (apart from that gold one.)

Eye Studio Color Tattoo 24 Hr Cream Gel Eyeshadow in Pink Gold, On and On Bronze, Permanent Taupe, Eternal Gold and Turquoise Forever (£4.99 each, available here)

These are such a blogger favourite, of course I’ve collected a few over the years! I like them, I use On and On Bronze when I’m too lazy to do too much to my eyes. Pink Gold works really well as a base under the Naked 3 colours and I really like Permanent Taupe in the crease when I’m doing a matte or classic eye look. However, I think there’s some discrepancy in the formula. They don’t crease on me, but I used the gold shade the other day and it was so difficult to apply. It kind of went clumpy on the eyelid and was really uneven and horrible. I don’t know if this is because I’ve had it for a while and it had maybe gone bad, but it was pretty much unusable. 

The Lipsticks

ColorSensational Lipstick in  Coral Tonic, Bit of Berry (which I think is only available in the US unfortunately), Pink Punch and Rich Plum.  (strangely the regular shades aren't available on the Boots website right now)

I’ve read a lot about these lipsticks, and was surprised to find out that a lot of people don’t like the formulation. They’ve always worked really well for me, even if the smell can be a bit overpowering at times. It reminds me of the scent of MAC lipsticks but a bit stronger. They apply really smoothly and last a really long time with proper application and liplining.  

ColorSensational Vivids in Neon Red and Hot Plum (£7.19 each, available here)

I was very scared of the Vivids for a long time, but they’re not as intimidating as they initially seem. They’re a lovely option if you’re looking for bright coloured lipsticks on the high street.

One thing I will say is that I did buy a ColorSensational lipstick once and I think it was one of the Pearl shades. I don’t like it at all and I’ve never used it because it is so metallic and 90s. If you’re not into that, please be careful because I know Boots don’t always label the different finishes very well.

The face products.

SuperStay Better Skin Foundation in Ivory and Soft Beige (£8.99, available here)

I bought this foundation in Ivory from Boots when it was first released, and it was way too orange for me. In my defense, I thought it would be fine because Ivory is pretty much always the lightest shade and I thought it’d be the case here, but it wasn’t. Soft Beige is the lightest shade, so beware if you’re buying this foundation. Maybe swatch it and go have a look in natural light. Be careful!

That being said, it is a nice foundation and I do quite like using it. I can’t really comment on the ‘Better Skin’ claims because I didn’t notice a huge improvement in my skin and the lightest shade is still a little bit yellow for me. But it’s by far not the worst foundation I’ve ever tried. The Boots website also claims it’s ‘suitable for sensitive skin, contains no perfume, and is non-comedogenic’, which is always nice because it’s hard to find foundation for sensitive skin sometimes.

Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Lightweight Primer (£7.99, available here)

I like this primer a lot. I wouldn’t say it’s a dupe for Benefit The PoreFessional exactly, and I do like PoreFessional better. But this is a really nice, cheap alternative, which goes on really smoothly and minimises the unsightly pores around my nose. I’ve heard some people say it’s greasy, but I can’t comment on that because it’s never been for me.

Dream Fresh BB 8-in-1 BB Cream in Light (£7.99, available here)

A lot of people hate this BB cream. I’ve never been sure exactly why, but I’ve heard so many poor reviews on it. I like it. It’s very thin, which may be what people don’t like, but I think it’s so nice for the summer. I’ve been wearing it over MAC Strobe Cream most days and I look all ethereal and pretty. I just think this BB cream is a lovely alternative to foundation on days when it’s way too hot to mess with all that. I even use it instead of foundation on good skin days.

Dream Sun Triple Bronzing Powder in 02 Brunette (£5.99, available here)

This is my first foray into bronzer. I’m not overly enamoured with it, but it’s nice enough. It’s not too dark or orange on my pale skin, and it gives me a nice sunkissed glow. Also, it’s not overly shimmery, which I was worried about. It’s just a gentle glow. It does not, however, work for contouring. For me, at least. And it smells so strongly of talcum powder. I like it because it reminds me of my grandma’s house when I was little, but if you don’t like scent in your bronzer, I would be wary of this one.

These are only the Maybelline products that I have bought recently or liked enough to keep: I've tried most of their foundations in the past, but none of them really impressed me enough to repurchase. For example, the Dream Matte Mousse was way too cakey for my dry skin  and I didn't like it at all. I've also used almost all of their mascaras, and I've never found one that I didn't like. I've got my eyes on a few more Maybelline products, in particular a few that are only sold in the US, so there may be another one of these posts in the future.

What are your favourite Maybelline products?