Showing posts with label high end. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high end. Show all posts

Friday, 10 April 2015

Save Money: 6 Dupes for High End Products



Guerlain's Les Meteorites pearls are a cult product, finely milled they give a very subtle glow to the skin and more recently they have been available in a convenient, travel friendly, compact form. The refill price though expensive it what I'd expect from such a high end brand but the compact is a whopping £97.20! (from Escentual. In house of Fraser it's around £108!) That means you're paying  £62.70 for the packaging alone! That will buy you another Guerlain product or two or possibly most of Make Up Revolution's entire stock! Kiko offers a budget friendly alternative, with a mixture of  matte and shimmery shades of violet, green and pink that can be swirled together for a champagne coloured sheen. I understand that the Guerlain compact is actually more shimmery than the original Meteorite pearls and from swatches here and here I'd say Kiko's version is more similar to the Meteorite pearls (£37.50) giving a subtle glow.




Despite it's name the Max Factor blush is actually a powder not a cream. The Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Nude Mauve seems to have the same lasting power as Hourglass Mood Exposure blush and the shades are very similar which you can see in a post by Gemma from Beauty Nook here. The differences are that Max Factor has less product than Hourglass and is also less expensive.


I really liked Benefit's new Rollerlash mascara (you can see the review here) but £19.50 is an expensive price tag. However money savvy beauty lovers have sussed out not one, but two dupes. The first is Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara which is the cheapest dupe. They share a similar curved wand (although Maybelline isn't as skinny as the Benefit wand) and you can see just how alike the results are in Elle Sees Blog post here. The second dupe is Max Factor Masterpiece Transform Mascara despite the wand looking completely different the results are very similar which you can see for yourselves in a post by Make Up Monster here.


Although Claire's Valentine Hearts nail polish isn't an exact dupe for Nails Inc Alexa Hearts, they are similar each having red hearts inside which I couldn't find anywhere else. La Femme also do a range of  polish with gold, silver and turquoise hearts in them which you can find here for 99p.





These Maybelline color drama lip pencils are much raved about Nars Velvet Matte lip pencil dupes. Maybelline lip pencils are good quality but significantly cheaper than Nars. Maybelline's Red Essential is thought to be a Nars Cruella dupe and you can see in this post by Make Up Over Mind here that they are very similar in colour. They are great in pigment and texture-wise comfortable to wear and leave a stain. Maybelline's Fab Orange is supposed to be a dupe of Nars Red Square. You can see the swatches on my pintrest beauty board.



Nars Radiant Creamy concealer is often recommended as a good concealer for under the eye. Maybelline Fit Me concealer is it's high street counterpart. The differences are that Nars offers more coverage with less product, while Maybelline needs to be built up, but both give medium coverage. Maybelline dries slower than Nars meaning you have more time to blend. The consistency differs as Nars is creamier than Maybelline. Nars does give you more product at 15ml while Maybelline has 6.8g but is still worth trying out.  






Sunday, 24 August 2014

Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balms Review

I finally got a chance to try out Clinique's famous Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip colour balms: The Stick That Started A Worldwide Trend or felt like it at least.
These are mini versions from Glamour Magazine in 06 Woppin' Watermelon (centre picture on the left) and 07 Super Strawberry (centre picture on the right.)

If I had to describe these in one word it would be comfortable. As in Comfortable and carefree not comfortable and boring. These are basically tinted lip balms, but in a easy twist up crayon that was appealing to make up lovers, make up newbies and those who don't wear make up, preferring to go au naturale. So their target market was basically everyone- see how clever they were there eh? These are nice to wear on the lips, definitely moisturising without making lips feel dry or tight at all or give that obvious wet look like Vaseline does. Because they are so comfortable you may find that frequent use means you'll go through the lip colour Balm quickly. These don't have any taste or scent which is a big plus as I have asthma and those of you who have allergies will appreciate this as well. This is fitting since Clinique's brand and ethos is based on being hypoallergenic / allergy tested. They are also not sticky, tacky or waxy either.It's great that these automatically twist up and that no product is wasted if you had to sharpen them. Unfortunately it does transfer on to cups like other lip balms but because they are fairly subtle they wear off evenly.


Super Strawberry is a red that's very close to pink and is darker. Out of the two I prefer Super Strawberry.

Woppin' Watermelon is paler with a lilac tint a colour which which I wouldn't usually gravitate towards but it looks ok on my lips and works as a nude shade.

Because these are lip balms the lighter colours will show up subtlety, the darker and brighter colours such as Jumbo Jasmine and Two Ton Tomato have more impact appearing like a diluted lipstick/stain. (Although Super Strawberry does stand out) This is a bonus if you feel you cannot carry off strong lipsticks colours such as red then I would try Two Ton Tomato  which may give the desired look but in subtler finish than lipstick or to dip your toes in the water by wearing bright lip trends such as Orange. Additionally If you want more bang for your buck (or pounds over here) then I would opt  for a dark or bright colour or try Clinique's new Chubby Stick for Lips Intense, for a more pigmented look. 

Clinique's Chubby Sticks Lip Colour balms are basically tinted lip balms in a convenient form. They feel lovely on the lips and definitely moisturise as they claim to.The colours show up but often subtly. I do think these are expensive for what they are, however Clinique were the ones who pioneered the lip crayon and didn't have to worry about a competitive price, they were the ones to set the trend for chubby sticks. I really like that these have no scent or taste something which is absent from the copycat products such as Revlon' s which taste of mint which I hate. Clinique do set the bar high for quality and I would recommend these if you have the money to spend. 

Clinique Chubby Sticks Moisturizing Lip Color Balms are £17 and available from Clinque OnlineBoots  and all good department stores. 

You may like it if...You don't like wearing lipstick but want a little colour, have allergies to taste and smells of products,hate anything sticky like some lip glosses or are high end brand conscious
You may not like these if..you are on a budget, or if you like pigmented lipsticks.


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