Friday 3 August 2012

My thoughts on Topshop Make Up!

When I first heard that Topshop was coming out with a Make Up range I was really not very excited, I thought it was going to be another poor attempt for a clothes shop to widen it's product range with something that they really didn't have a clue about, for example: H&M, Primark and New Look. I know these shops are all on the cheaper end of high street shops  compared to Topshop but nonetheless Topshop is a high street shop and so I thought their make up would be just as bad as the others.

After hearing a few good reviews I thought I would go to Topshop and have a look. I hadn't actually seen the products in real life before because I don't really shop in Topshop as it's very expensive, it turns out it isn't just the clothes that were expensive either! The make up isn't department store expensive but it's definitely drug store expensive, this made me reluctant to purchase more than one thing but it intreigued me that it might actually be good (I stand by my favourite saying, you get what you pay for)!

Below are the products I purchased to review:


When I decided I wanted to purchase something to test I thought it'd be best to only get one thing and if it turned out to be good go back and purchase more. I bought this cream blush in the colour 'Head Over Heels' which is a really peachy pink, it was actually the softest, most pastel colour out of all the ones they sell (4 in total), I chose this because I'm not very daring when it comes to cheeks as I'm scared I'll look like a china doll! I love the packaging, I think it's great, it's plain and simple and it's really different from the rest of my make up, I love the spots and how the black box it comes in has the product drawn on the front. The plastic is also heavy which is nice because it feels good quality, there's nothing worse than cheap plastic that feels like it's going to crack when you pick it up. The only downside to the packaging is that it can get quite dirty, it has a matte effect which seems to attract make up that sticks to it so it constantly needs cleaning!

Now I never normally go for cream blushes, I like powders because simply I like applying them and I just feel like cream blushes are hard to get right and they get all over your fingers. I bit the bullet and bought this one though as it did look so nice, it's soft to touch and VERY pigmented so you don't need a lot which is great. It says on the back of the packaging 'dot on cheeks and blend' so I just pick a little bit up with two fingers and apply it to the apples of my cheeks, it's amazing, when it's on your fingers it feels like a cream but as soon as it touches your face it feels like it's turning into a powder! I wear this during the day and night, it's the perfect blush for literally any occasion and I would love to have it in every colour!

Here is Topshop description of this product: 'Lightweight cream to powder blush that melts into the skin giving a natural luminous, radiant finish.' It's exactly right, it really does melt into your skin and leave you feeling fresh and glowing rather than weighed down and oily. This blush costs £6 which really isn't a lot to pay for a product of this standard.

After having such great reviews for the blusher I decided I wanted to go back and get more and the next three products I bought at the same time. I chose this Kohl pencil in the colour 'Saddle', as I've said before I only wear brown eyeliner and this one really stood out to me. My favourite eyeliner is one from Urban Decay but I'm on a mission to find a cheaper alternative and this one is definitely a contender. I took a swatch of this on my hand and was amazed at the pigmentation, one swipe of the pencil and it's already so thick, it also has teeny tiny gold specs in which I LOVE because I wear a lot of golds and I do love a bit of shimmer!

The packaging for this is just as lovely as the blush, the cap on the pencil is in the same thick plastic and the polkadot theme is kept throughout. Whilst trying out all the different products at the Make Up stand in Topshop I was become more and more impressed with the quality of them. As soon as I tried out this pencil I knew I was going to buy it, at £4 it really is a must have product for people who, like me, love pencil eyeliners. Pencil is the cheapest and easiest eyeliner but I've tried literally every type going and pencils always stand out to me for their long lasting wear, value for money and really the sheer quality of them compared to some others. This eyeliner performs in all three of those areas and I will definitely be repurchasing it when it runs out (which won't be anytime soon)!


The next thing I bought was another 'shall I? Shall I not?' moment, I've never bought a lip marker before and from ones I've used in the past I wasn't too impressed, I like a lip product to be moisturising and a bit glamarous and I've found that lip markers just dry out your lips really fast. I tried this one out on my hand and it was surprisingly moisturising, I left it to dry whilst I browsed at other items and thought I'd come back to it.

When I eventually pulled myself away from the other Make Up I noticed it had dried nicely and left a very pretty, bright colour on my skin, I decided to get it because it is a very versatile lip product which I was excited to try. I am so glad I did decide to purchase it because as soon as I got it home and put it on my lips it instantly gave them a lovely pop of colour, I chose the brightest colour out of the ones they stock. Again it has the lovely packaging, the cap clips on nice and tightly so I'm not worried about it drying out, I've had the products for about two weeks now to give me a chance to try them and test them out in order to give an honest opinion but it's still just as good as when I first opened it.

The beauty of this product is that you can wear it alone for a matte look (as shown in the picture above), with a bit of vaseline to add a nice sheen or with gloss to go all out. It's lovely and small so I just pop it in my bag whenever I go out as it's so easy to use on the go. I love the pen as you can't really smudge it and it even lasts after eating so a perfect lip product for going out for a meal. This product was a bit more expensive than the others, it costs £8 which is what I'd normally pay for a lipstick, I'm just hoping it has the same long life as a lipstick too! I can't rave about this product enough I really love it :)

I first heard about the good quality of Topshop make up because of their nail varnishes so I knew I definitely wanted to buy one when I went back. I spent a long time umming and ahhing over the golds and pinks but I really wanted to try something new so looked more carefully at the other colours, it was very daunting trying to choose because Topshops colour range is VERY impressive, there's so many different shades of literally every colour there is! I settled on this beautiful shimmery minty green, it's such a summery colour and the little silver specs caught my eye straight away. I love shimmery nail varnishes and when they're this pretty, bright and eye catching it's hard to resist not buying 10 of them!

I put this on as soon as I got home and was very pleased that it only needed 2 coats, it was very thick and has one of those wide brushes making it even easier to apply. It lasted a good 3 days without chipping but I had to take it off for work before I could really see how long it would last. This is where it all went wrong. It took me a good 30 minuted to remove this nail varnish. I used the same cotton pads and varnish remover that I always do it just wouldn't budge! It was really frustrating and put me off wearing it again so I'm yet to reapply. I will obviously wear it again at some point but I will be sure to add a base coat this time which will hopefull help to lift it off easier, it's the glitter that just sticks to your nails that is the problem! I've worn 2 lots of different nail varnish since and I still have some silver shimmer glued to my nails. Don't let this put you off buying it, just make sure you use a base coat and allow yourself enough time to remove it before you have to go to work! Their shimmery nail varnishes cost £6 compared to the normal ones which are £5. For a nail varnish this size and this quality this is a very good price.

Everything I've shown here can be found at www.Topshop.com or in most Topshop stores! I will be going back to try more products because I was so impressed with the high quality of them and they are actually very good value for money!

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