Makeup Revolution Brand First Impressions & FOTD

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a few days now, but I wanted to make sure I had time to sit and write it out properly. I’ve always known it was going to be a fairly hefty one considering the amount of Makeup Revolution products I have. I hadn’t tried anything from them until a month ago, when I won a giveaway hosted by Rachael from Helpless Whilst Drying and I also purchased two individual eyeshadows in the huge 3 for 2 on all make up offer at Superdrug.

Considering that Makeup Revolution only celebrated their first birthday back in May, the brand is huge! I normally only shop in Boots, so hadn’t really seen their products around, but whenever I had taken a look I always thought that the products wouldn’t be any good as they were so cheap. Don’t get me wrong I love drugstore products and rarely buy high end beauty items, but I always felt that there was such a thing as too cheap – you know the kind of makeup you try out as a kid that isn’t intended for all day wear? Since starting blogging a year ago, I have started to hear more and more about some of the brands which are exclusive to Superdrug, Makeup Revolution being the most popular of these. I started to think I must be missing out, so was delighted to get to try out so many of their products for myself!

Here’s what Rachael sent me:

I recieved 9 Makeup Revolution products, including 2 palettes, 2 lipsticks, 2 pigments, a liquid blusher and an eyeshadow primer. Also pictured are a Superdrug makeup bag and Lottie London nail polish which Rachael kindly added in for me!

Some of the products are from the sub-brand I Heart Makeup.

Palettes


First up is by far my most favourite item of the lot, the I Am Naked Palette. As you can see this contains 6 eyeshadows and a lipstick in one handy compact! These are perfect everyday shades, which I have been wearing all the time and I wouldn’t be without it now – this is definitely coming away with me in August. I could happily pack just this one palette for a week away. The top row looks matte in the photos, but the middle has a shimmer to it, but they are nowhere near as glittery as the bottom row. My favourites are the top middle and bottom left to wear alone or the top row together for a more ambitious eye look. The lipstick looks pretty brown in the bullet, but is actually quite peachy and really suits me, which was a surprise as I never would have bought it for myself. (Swatch included later!) At the moment, this palette is currently 50% off, reduced to £2.99 (along with the other colour variations – but I am In Love seems to have sold out!) on Makeup Revolution, which is an absolute steal! If you’re thinking of placing an order with them, add this in. Seriously. All four of the colour variations are available from Superdrug for £4.99.

Another I Heart Makeup product, the Go To The City Palette, which contains 2 blushers, a highlight and 6 eyeshadows. The colours in this are all pretty bold, the blushers especially. I haven’t tried the one on the right because I have a very pale complexion and I can tell it’s not going to work for me. The one on the left however I have used and I can pull off if I blend well as it’s more coral toned, which I like. Overall though, I’m not fussed on it and have found myself reaching for my old blusher. The eyeshadows are all really beautiful shades, but I do think the pale colour is rather out of place. Something like a brown would go with the other colours better. I haven’t used these hugely as they’re a bit dark for work, but the pigmentation is good! This palette is also on offer for £2.99 on the Makeup Revolution website, you can also get all 4 palettes in the range for £8. Or you can get them from Superdrug for £3.99 each.

Eyeshadow

Since we’re talking palettes, I figure we might as well talk eyeshadow in general. If you’ve heard anything about Makeup Revolution before, its probably because of their eyeshadow palettes which include dupes for Lorac Pro and the Naked palettes in the form of the highly affordable Iconic palettes. Knowing I had two palettes in the post and not wanting to spend a huge amount of money, when I ventured into Superdrug I thought I’d see what I could find for £1 and out I came with these two eyeshadows priced at £1 each.

They’re a very generous size and come in simple, but nice packaging. The top everyday beige colour that I love to wear all the time is called Finally… and the bottom lilacy shade is called Good Life and is the one I’m wearing in the second photo. If you want to see for yourself how good the eyeshadow are from Makeup Revolution before placing a big haul, then these are perfect, because you’ve only for £1 to lose and afterwards you’ll question how on earth other cosmetics companies can justify charging as much as they do – especially the high end brand that Revolution dupes so well! These are pigmented, creamy, apply easily and worn with my usual eyeshadow primer lasted all day crease free. For £1! There’s currently 46 shades in the range, so plenty to choose from. I’m thinking of getting a taupe next, maybe Sold Out, if anyone’s got it let me know what you think!

Pigments

Is anyone else scared of pigments? Because they’re loose I worried a lot about how much mess I would make using these so put off opening them for a while whilst I tried out everything else. I received two shades of the Eye Dust; left is Levity and right is Starless. When I opened them, I was relieved to see that there’s a stopper in the top with a few holes in so that only a small amount of product comes out at a time. I used Levity all over as an eyeshadow and found that although I could blend it out to a more subtle shade, it was difficult to make even as these are so pigmented. I think they’ll make a great look together, but I might need some practise! The Eye Dust pigments are £1 each, but some are reduced to 50p.

Eyeshadow Primer

This again is another I Matte Primer and like a lot of the 1 Superdrug.

Mascara

Say hello to my least favourite Makeup Revolution product – the (completely un-) Amazing Volume Mascara in black, which is £2. I’ve tried to apply this a couple of times and the product just doesn’t seem to want to go on to my lashes, and when it does it doesn’t really apply much volume and gives absolutely no length. I end up getting frustrated and reaching for something else. Oh and the packaging is really tacky. Avoid.

Blusher

If I were to purchase a blusher, it would never be this. I haven’t ever heard of a Fluid Blusher before, but it is exactly as messy as I assumed and the shade Desire is completely wrong for me. I wore it a couple of times to judge the wear time, but always got odd looks because I looked as if I’d been slapped round the face! I dropped a small amount on to my hand and then blended like crazy using my fingers to try and create a subtle wash of colour on my cheeks, however the pigmentation is too strong to blend to make this work for me. But I have to save the longevity of this isn’t great, by the time I finished work, if not lunchtime, I’d notice that the blusher had managed to melt off my face. I applied it over foundation and set it with powder, both of which stay fine, but the blusher seems to wear off, which is kinda odd. There’s a few shades available for this, but I won’t be trying anymore, I’ll be trying one of the much raved about Blushing Hearts in Peachy Pink Kisses (£4.99)! The fluid blusher is on offer for £1.50.

Lips

I also got two other lipsticks, aside from the one included in the Naked palette. On the top is one of the much raved about £1 Amazing Lipsticks in the shade Encore. There are 30 shades avaliable. Below with the rose gold box, is the Amazing Care Lipstick in Electric Love, which appears to have been discontinued.

Encore is a very well pigmented lipstick, which is lovely and creamy and feels great to wear. I really like the shade and the shimmer in it, I think of it as the lipstick unicorns would wear. I don’t know why, I’m just weird like that. However this same shimmer which I love so much in the swatch has so far stopped me from wearing it out of the house because it is so much more visible on the lips and I can’t take myself seriously wearing it. Maybe one day I’ll find an occasion…

As for Electric Love, I have to confess I was convinced I’d hate it because when you look in the middle of the bullet at the pigment (its surrounded by a clear vaseline like lip conditioner) its bright acid shocking pink. Not a great colour for someone as pale as me or with red hair. But I plucked up the courage to put it on and was shocked at how different it looks on, which seems to be a theme with the Makeup Revolution lipsticks. Because it is diluted by the balm, the colour is barely visible and it is in fact like a tinted lip balm, not a lipstick. This has actually earned a place in my handbag, along with the nude shade from the palette.

Lip swatches L-R: Naked palette, Encore, Electric Love

Makeup Looks

Here I am wearing the I Am Naked Palette Lipstick and  Finally Mono Eyeshadow over the Eyeshadow Primer.

And a second look, using even more MUR products! Hopefully you can see the lack of length from the mascara here and get a better idea of how the Electric Love lipstick looks on, as it was difficult to swatch.

Overall, I am really impressed with Makeup Revolution, so impressed in fact that I couldn’t resist placing an order with their new professional brand Freedom, the day it launched. A decision of course helped by the launch offers of a 20% off code (BEFREETOMAKEUP), free international delivery when you spend £15 and their price point being the same as Makeup Revolution, not higher as I’d expected. I also plan on getting more Makeup Revolution items in future, I think there’s 8 of their products currently on my Superdrug wishlist! Now, if only one of them would bring out a brow gel, as I’m running low…

Have you tried any Makeup Revolution items? What’s your favourite?

Rachael

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P.S. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway – ends tomorrow! You can enter via WordPress and Instagram.