Gotcha Covered Concealer

Gotcha Covered Concealer || £5.50

Full coverage. Dewy finish. All day wear. These are the three selling points of NYX's Gotcha Covered which, in anyone's book, would seem the perfect equation for a concealer. Does it deliver or is it just bait on the beauty fishing line? 

Rather than a doe foot applicator this comes in a squeezy tube, much like a foundation. As you would expect from a heavy duty concealer, the product is quite thick so it is doesn't dispense easily as the nozzle is quite thin.

On first applying to the skin this product feels horrible! It is thick and sticky - in fact, it really reminds me of that cheap Halloween grease paint. Regardless, I continued applying the concealer to the areas I wanted then blended out with my Beauty Blender. 

What. A. Difference.

The stickiness subsided and I was left with bright, dewy skin!

I went ahead and set it with the tiniest dusting of powder and it looked glorious. I was super impressed! The dark circles, redness and blemishes were hidden and they remained so all day. True to their word it stayed put, even on my oil slick face!

This is definitely a concealer for someone who likes to look 'made up' - even though it blends well, you're not going to pull off the natural look wearing it. However I love the finished result so if you can bear a couple of seconds of stickiness then this concealer is definitely worth it!

NYX haul

When an email telling me NYX was hitting my local Boots landed in my inbox, I almost did an excited wee. For months I've been lusting over Instagram feeds and blogs waiting for this very moment.

The stand itself was a dream. Rows and rows full to burst with products begging to be bought. I swatched so much my hand looked like a contender for the Turner prize. Half an hour and a very bored boyfriend later, I'd whittled it down to just six products... I still want it all.

Perhaps my most eagerly anticipated purchase was the Lip Lingerie liquid lipstick. I bought two fairly 'everyday' shades; Lace Detail (a pinky 'your-lips-but-better shade) and Corset (a grey/brown toned beige nude). 

The HD concealer pops up on every 'My Top Five.. ' concealer post I've ever read so my hand was practically forced. Right?! I got this in the shade Fair to highlight my under eyes however I think this product has such a full coverage that I won't need to conceal beforehand! 

As we get into warmer weather I like to switch the dark smoky eyes for a contoured and defined look. It's so hard to find a completely matte shadow from an affordable range so imagine my delight when I found an entire matte range. Better still, I found my perfect contour shade - Get Naked. 

Highlight that could blind someone? Hello NYX Illuminator in Ritualistic. The highlighter looks pearly in the pan but when applied it's leaves a  beautiful champagne toned glow.

Finally, something to keep my beautifully blended eyeshadows in place in our ridiculously hot English summer (optimistic, I know), the Proof It waterproof eye primer. I hope this can battle the oil slick that seems to occur in warmer weather!

Even though I only completed my first purchase around 48 hours ago I'm so impressed I'm scouring reviews to create a shopping list for my next visit! I'd love to read some recommendations if you have any...

Flawless Foundation with Revlon Colourstay

Colorstay has always and will always be my favourite foundation. It's full coverage and blends well, as well as being perfectly formulated for oily skin.

This foundation is the bigger, better looking sister of Photoready, which I also love.

Teeny tiny criticism; it has no pump. This peeves me so much! To dispense the product you have to tap the bottle onto the back of your hand, which can take a while considering it's thick compared to other foundations. Other than the lack of pump, I like the heavy, glass bottle which makes it feel more expensive than it's £12.99 price tag. 

I always find the colour range on Revlon particularly good for more yellow based skin tones such as mine - Natural Beige is my shade of choice. The foundation is, as I said, very thick but a little goes a long way. I roughly apply it with a foundation brush and then blend with a damp beauty blender.

There are two variations of this product; Normal/Combination & Combination/Oily - I use the oily version and I can hand on heart say, it lasts all day even without primer or powder. Add those in and you could near on get 24 hours out of it.