Fenty Cream Bronzer Vs Huda Tantour - Who Wins?

Hello!

Today we have a comparison between the Huda Beauty Tantour in Fair and the Fenty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer in Butta Biscuit. Both of these are the palest cream bronzer products in each brand, although Fenty also brought out their iconic contour shade Amber out in this formula too (from the original Match Stix formula)

Now then, the first point to make is that the Huda product is meant to be a contour and bronzer whereas the Fenty one is advertised more as just a cream bronzer. The difference being that the Huda Tantour "combines a balance of shadow and warmth" according to their website. 

Left: Huda Beauty Tantour in Fair.

Right: Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer in Butta Biscuit.

I found that the consistencies were pretty similar but the Huda Tantour is heavily pigmented! This isn't necessarily a bad thing as it means a little goes a long way, however it does mean that anyone not used to cream products might have a bit of an issue with it. The Fenty bronzer is a little lighter in colour but also a bit warmer for sure. 

Swatches as above.

When blended with my finger you can see that the Fenty one blends out smoother and this is mainly because the Huda one is SO pigmented that the amount I had swatched was way too much to spread easily in a small area.

Packaging wise......I much prefer the Fenty one. The Huda one has a twist off top and EVERY time I manage to catch myself on it. One day it's going to cause me an injury!! The Huda one does come with an insert over the cream though which I guess should stop it from drying out so easily but I've not had an issue with this happening to either of them so far.

With Flash.

With flash both of them look fairly similar in colour. I have tried both with fingers and a brush and they apply easily with both. i found using a sponge picked up too much of the Huda product but was fine with the Fenty one. You could use a sponge to blend out the Huda one once on your face though with no issue.

Without flash you can see that the Huda one is much darker in reality to the Fenty one. I am really quite pale so I find the Huda one quite difficult to use as it took more effort in terms of being awake enough to use it (fine when I'm on a late but on an early....well....I'm not usually able to function until after lunch really!) I think the fact that you can use the Huda one for both contour and bronzer is a handy thing if someone just wants one product but if you build the product up, I can't see why you couldn't do that with the Fenty one? 

Final thoughts:

Huda Tantour in Fair:

Pros - 

• Very pigmented so will last a long time.
• Cheaper than Fenty at £26 for 11g currently.
• Can be used as a multitasking product.

Cons - 

• Packaging is very annoying/mildly dangerous to those of us who are accident prone!
• Not super easy to use if you are a first timer for cream bronzer due to it being very pigmented.
• Only comes in 5 Shades and the palest is still quite dark. There is quite a jump between light and medium as well.

Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer in Butta Biscuit:

Pros - 

• Not as pigmented so easy for first time users or people who would rather build a product up.
• They have 8 different shades, 3 of which are designed to be more of a contour shade. Fenty are also known for adding to their shades if they need too.
• Packaging comes with a mirror which is handy if you do your makeup on the go at all.

Cons - 

• More expensive than Huda at £28 for 6.23g.
• You would need to buy two if you wanted a dedicated contour and bronzer shade. 
• Packaging looks messy inside very quickly as the product is flat the the white inside plastic.

Both formulas are cruelty free which is always a bonus as well!

Who wins? - 

All in all, I personally prefer the Fenty one just because the Huda one is VERY pigmented and I find that frustrating if I'm in a rush. Plus the packaging on the Huda one just stresses me out! Both are available easily at their own websites (linked above), Cult Beauty and Boots.com along with other retailers. 

Until next time,

xoxo

High End VS Highstreet: Estee lauder Double Wear VS Seventeen Stay Time Foundation

Hello!

So today I decided to compare two of the liquid foundations that I've used for a bit. One high end and one highstreet. I've done this before on a slightly grander scale with various lip colours (might re-do those at some point as my opinions may have changed...) Anyway, as some of you know, I've been playing about with various different liquid foundations for days off when I decide to go for something different to my "work makeup". I'll be honest nothing has come close to my beloved bareMinerals Original Foundation in terms of formula and coverage choice! But I decided to have a "liquid foundation off" (like a dance off...but less energetic) today to compare two of my favourites so far. I'll be honest, I've not used a lot of High End foundations due to their cost...I'm kind of limited to what's in store that I can nab a sample of really!! I do like the Dior ones but I have no samples of them and as this was a bit of a whim I went with what I had. I used to use Double wear Light when I worked for Benefit (I wouldn't put their foundation on my face after the HORRIFIC reaction I had to it on my hand! Bleugh!) so have had experience with Estee Lauder foundation before. The Seventeen one is my current favourite of the highstreet ones that I've tried now. Again, I've not tried loads as I can't justify buying lots when I can't wear them everyday! Anyway, long waffle justifying my choices over, let's get on with the comparison!

The reason I chose to do the comparison today was because my skin is horrendous after having a really bad cold/cough/sore throat thing so it'd be much easier to show you the coverage I think!

So firstly here is a shot of my lovely bare faced...complete with pinned back hair. FIT. (note the two coffee mugs in the background...that would explain the dark circles under my eyes!)

So on the left side on the picture (which is the right side of my face...which confuses me greatly when trying to decide how to describe each side in a blog post. Do you call it the left because it's the left of the picture or the right because it's the right side of my face?! Ugh. Thinking like this all the time makes my brain hurt. I'm going with left as it's left of the picture....) Ahem, ok so on the left I've buffed on the Seventeen Stay Time Foundation. I have the shade Fair and it seems to be a really good match I think. Notice the blemish above my eyebrow and the redness round my nose has basically gone.

With the Estee Lauder DoubleWear foundation in Ecru on the right (left side of my face...) The blemish on my forehead is still showing a bit but I think that's because it's horrendous not really to do with the foundations coverage... However the dark circles under my eyes are both as bad as each other and I feel that the Seventeen one is better covered.

With a full face of makeup on. I don't think you can really judge foundations until you've put the rest of your makeup on! I felt my eyeshadow went on more smoothly on the Seventeen side but that my cream blush worked better with the Estee Lauder side. 

So this was at the end of the day (note to self...need a better place to put my brushes once I've finished with them...) Again, i feel like the dark circles under my eyes look worse on the Estee Lauder side and my blusher seems to be fading quicker on that side too.

Here is a close up of my eyes so I can show you how the DoubeWear really settled into every fine line around my eye! I'm only 25 and don't have a lot of fine lines but DAMN! I felt like I looked like I'd aged about 20 years! I was not ok with that at all. I mean, I'm all about ageing gracefully but seriously...not in a day! (don't look at how badly I need to get my eyebrows done either...)

So here are my overall thoughts:

• Application: Seventeen - very easy. Half a pump did half my face. Estee Lauder - Difficult. A small amount went far but it kept just moving with the brush which ave my brush marks on my face. Very irritating. Took twice as long as the Seventeen one to apply.
• Coverage: Seventeen - Very good coverage and smooth/semi matte finish. Estee Lauder - Very good coverage with a slightly dewy finish (on me anyway!)
• Feeling on face: Seventeen - Very light, non-sticky, almost felt like I had nothing on. Estee Lauder  Very sticky, felt heavy on my face.
• End of day feeling: Seventeen - Still light and still good coverage. Had some occasions where I touched my face and came away with foundation, but never looked patchy! No re-application needed. Estee Lauder - Felt really sticky on my face by the end of the day, couldn't wait to get it off! had some on my fingers every time I'd touched my face - still didn't look patchy though! Still very good coverage but had gathered under my eyes and my eyeshadow had creased very badly (unlike on the Seventeen side where it had creased a little but not loads) Blusher has faded on this side too.
• Ease of Removing Foundation: Seventeen - Using my bareMinerals cleanser it took about 2 cotton pads to remove all makeup (including eye makeup) Estee Lauder - After 2 cotton pads I looked in my magnifying mirror and it was still caked on round my nose and cheek area. After FIVE COTTON pads (double sided too!!) I was finally clean!

Verdict...

Seventeen is the outright winner for me. It basically has the same coverage as DoubleWear but with less hassle, stickiness and under eye ageing!! Plus if I wore DoubleWear all the time I'd spend a fortune in cotton pads to remove it!! I prefer the semi-matte finish of the Seventeen Stay Time Foundation too. I don't like feeling like I have to layer up powder over the top of liquid foundation but hate shine on my face so I felt comfortable wearing the Seventeen one alone. The DoubleWear one would still need a powder over the top personally though. So for me, I vote Seventeen Stay Time foundation over Estee Lauder DoubleWear anytime! Both are available from Boots and Estee Lauder is available from other retailers too.

What do you guys think? Anyone tried both and have a favourite? Let me know!

Until next time,

xoxo

Other makeup used in final photo - Estee Lauder Pure Color Eye Trio in Steel Lilacs, Lancome Hypnose Mascara, bareMinerals Brow Powder (discontinued), Lancome Highlighter in Rose Etincelle,Bourjois Blush Exclusif and Lancome L'Absolu Rouge Lipstick in 06.

Comparison: Highend Vs Highstreet Pink Lip Products

Hello!

So here's another comparison for you! This one is on the same lines as my red lip product review but just with pink lip products instead (obviously....) So basically I take a random sample of my collection and let you know which one I would pick out of all of them. Fun right?? Now then, I own a hell of a lot of pink lip colours so I've narrowed this one down a little bit so I don't over load you guys with the ridiculous amount of pinks...also my arm wouldn't be long enough to swatch them all I don't think! Anyway, on with the comparison....

Swatches in the same order as above. From left to right:

• Dior Addict Lipstick in 579 Must Have - Love the colour of this lipstick but the colour payoff isn't massive. Very nice for just a slick of colour.
• BareMinerals Pretty Amazing Lip Colour in Ambition - One of my favourite work colours. Such great colour and staying power!
• BareMinerals Pretty Amazing Lip Colour in Moxie - Another favourite work colour. It's a really nice light pink for a more natural look.
• MAC Lipstick in Lickable - My first and only MAC lipstick (so far...) highly pigmented and has amazing staying power.
• 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Bolshie - More of a sheer colour but still has pretty good colour payoff I find.
• Barry M Lip Paint in Touch of Magic (green to pink) - I love this colour because of the fun factor (and for the finished colour) but it is a tad annoying when you can't really see where it's going and you end up with pink just over your lip (you can rub it off but it's difficult with this one!) Once it's on though, that's it! I've even woken up the next day going "what?? How is there any left on?!?!" 
• ELF Mineral Lipstick in Rich Raspberry - I like the feel of this one. It's very soft on your lips.
• Natural Collection Lipstick in Raspberry - I love this lipstick. I practically lived in it this time last year. 
• 17 Berry Crush Lip Stain in Pinkini - Love the colour and staying power...but that fact that it seems to dry up when you're using it is a real pain!

Winner: Highend - MAC totally wins this one (based on one lipstick...) because I bloody love the colour, the payoff and the staying power! Barry M is close but is quite drying too which brought it down a few points. Special mention to the Natural Collection lipsticks though - these are my favourite highstreet ones but they lost points for colour selection (possibly only a problem in my local Boots?)

Swatches same as above from left to right:

• Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss in 152 Socialite Pink - Considering I don't really like the feel of lipgloss generally....this is beautiful! It's really good colour payoff but not sticky at all.
• BareMinerals Natural Lipgloss in Heartcake - I like the way this feels on my lips too. Not sticky and just a swish of colour.
• Buxom Lipgloss in Gina - I love the colour of this but sometimes you don't want one that's got a plumping effect.
• Buxom Lipgloss in Berry Blast - This is one of the cream finish ones which gives much more colour than a normal gloss. However, the tingle is still there so it's not one of my everyday ones now.
• Barry M Lipgloss in Limited Edition (no name!) - No then, this isn't strictly pink but I've only ever used it over pink lipsticks so it's got a pink tinge to it now (gross right?!) This isn't sticky but it feels a bit....slimy on my lips. I'm not a fan of being able to taste the fragrance in it either.

Winner: Highend - Nothing will ever beat the Dior lipgloss for me. I really don't like the feel of gloss so the fact that I can only barely feel this gloss is a massive bonus for me. I LOVE the colour of this one too and would be interested in looking at more. This might a little skewed because I do only really own one highstreet gloss in the pink ranges though, but I've owned more and given them away for being too sticky or too sweet smelling/tasting!

So there's my few comparisons for pink lip products.... Do you guys have any recommendations for lip products? Anything I'm missing out on lipgloss wise?? 

Until next time,

xoxo

Comparison: Highend Vs Highstreet Red Lip Products

Hello!

So I decided to do this sort of blog post last night when I was trying out a new way to style my hair....obviously I couldn't get the full look without doing my makeup at 8pm in the evening right?? (I call this use of my time "snow madness" I've literally not left the house in 3 days now. I'm so bored!!)  Anyway, I put on my beloved Estee Lauder red lippy and decided it wasn't quite what I wanted....so I delved into my case of stuff that I just don't use much anymore, but still totally love. 

Quick Sidenote: This is the one curse of working on a makeup counter I think. I literally can't wear anything but BareMinerals on a day to day basis, and whilst I love BM products, this does mean that a lot of stuff that I love gets neglected, only being used for "special occasions" (or on nights when I'm trying out new looks obviously...) My Naked palette literally hasn't been used in 6 months now I don't think, which is annoying as I love it so don't want to gift it on to someone but I never get to use it! 

So, I delved into my beauty case of goodies and fished out my MUA lipstick in Shade 1 and was completely overwhelmed with how good it looked and how it was exactly the right shade of red for that look! So I had a little look around in the case and was a little shocked to discover that I had a rather large range of lip products that I had forgotten about! I also discovered that I had a range that went from highend to highstreet...hence this post! I always really like posts when people compare highend and highstreet because I find it really interesting how some products can come out on top when they only cost £1 or something crazy like that! I'm going to try and keep this short by not reviewing each individual piece in full, but just by giving you swatches and opinions on my personal favourites...(we'll see how this goes!)

From Left to Right (swatches in the same order as products above): 

Estee Lauder Pure Color Vivid Shine Lipstick in Forbidden Apple - Beautiful deep red but packed with shimmer. More of a night out look. Very good staying power though and minimal bleeding.

Dior Addict Extreme in 536 Lucky (sample size) - Quite a pinky red. Not great colour payoff either really. Wouldn't buy the full size.

Barry M 121 - Was given this by a friend who never wears red lipstick, which was good because it's way too orange toned for me, so I'm glad I didn't buy this myself! Colour payoff is great but just WAY too orange. I look like the Joker with this on!

ELF Mineral Lipstick in Cheerful Cherry - Non-drying, non-bleeding almost perfect deep red. Very impressed!

ELF Lipstick in Posh - Almost identical to the other ELF one, just cheaper packaging! 

Natural Collection Lipstick in Cherry Red - I love this lipstick colour as it's a little bit brighter but still a deep red if that makes sense? It's a little drying though so lip balm is needed.

MUA Lipstick in Shade 1 - This is amazing for one whole pound!! It looks really similar to my Estee Lauder one, just without the shimmer. Lip liner is very much needed with this though as it's really soft but bleeds LOADS if you're not careful!

ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Cherry Tarts - Eh. I really liked this once, but I'm more about the bold colour at the moment. Maybe I'll fall back in love in the summer. It's stickier than I remember too.

17 Berry Crush Lip Stain in Smokin' Hot (I think - major downside to this one is that the colour name is on the plastic wrap and not on the product at all!) - I loved this when I first bought it but after two uses I was just angry with it. It's good for popping over lipsticks to lock them in though....which is something I guess!

Winner: Highstreet - MUA Shade 1 for a perfect deep red shade for me! For a pound I was SO impressed with how this lipstick felt and lasted on my lips, especially when I would say it was comparable to the Estee Lauder one! The only thing the Lauder is better at is not bleeding AS much and I'm happy to shove a lip liner on first for a perfect deep red shade thanks! - Special mention to the ELF ones too as they have great staying power, but the shades aren't exactly what you see on the website so go careful!

Sometimes I like to a balm over the top of my red lipstick and sometimes I like it to be red toned so I can change/enhance the colour of the lipstick a little bit so I have a handful of balm/glosses to do such a thing...

Left to Right (Same as top to Bottom in above picture):

Maybelline Shinylicious Fruity Gloss in 804 Raspberry - Brought this YEARS ago (tut tut I know!) and it's still fine, but a little bit too sticky for me.

Natural Collection Tinted Lip Balm in Raspberry Rhumba - I'm not sure if they still do these anymore but I do like the feel of this as it isn't sticky but the colour pay off is pretty good too. Possibly a bit too pink for me  and the smell/taste of this is a bit gross.

Clarins Dynamic Red Lip Balm - This was a free gift with something a while back I think but the girl at work found a stash of them in her cupboard....and we're allowed to take 2 samples home per week...and as this is marked "not for sale" on the back, it technically counts! (Quick note, no, we aren't allowed to take anything marked for testers!) The photo above does it no justice at all as it's actually a deep red with very fine shimmer in it. Completely enhances any red and adds the bit of glossiness I want without leaving my lips sticky! Smells lovely too!

Winner: Highend - Clarins Lip Balm is a real winner for me...makes any drying lipstick perfectly fine for my lips and gives a great deep red colour to all my lipsticks! Makes my lips look and feel kissable!

So what do you guys think? Am I missing any perfect Reds from my collection? Any highstreet red lip balms you can recommend? (I think the Clarins one was limited edition! Nooooo!)

Until next time,

xoxo