Every couple of months I try and shop outside of my usual haunts, and recently I popped along to the Harlequin (is it still called that?) at Watford, purely because they have a big ol’ Primark, and a well-stocked Superdrug. These are two shops that I don’t really have the opportunity to access locally, so I like to visit the Harlequin once or twice a year to see what’s new. This time, I jumped head first into a proper budget beauty binge, and came out the other side with some real surprises!
Superdrug is such a fantastic source of budget make-up nowadays; do you remember when it was kind of like a poor man’s Boots? Now it’s fantastic – with long walls lined with all the main budget beauty brands, including Revolution Beauty, which is one of my go-to budget beauty brands because they always have something I want. There’s actually two big stands at the Superdrug I visited, so I really had a chance to see what was new and pick up some exciting launches.
I went for the Revolution Liquid Highlighter in Starlight (£6 here – link) because I have a similar Cover FX one, and I wanted to do a bit of comparing. The Revolution Cushion Corrector (£4 here – link) looked like it would be brilliant, and it really, really is! I featured it in last months’ favourites here. I also picked up a couple of the new Fast Base Stick Foundations (£5 here – link) which I haven’t had a chance to try yet, but I’ll be featuring them in a separate post soon. Finally, put the word “hyaluronic” in anything and I’ll buy it – the Revolution Hyaluronic Fixing Spray (£6 here – link) is actually really good and leaves skin looking fresh, dewy and a little bit ‘lived in’ which is great if you’re prone to looking dry.
Another thing Superdrug is great for is in-store promotions – I picked up the Real Techniques Flawless Base Makeup Brush Set for a real bargain; I can’t remember the exact price but I believe it was less than a tenner, which, if you consider the set is currently £19.99 (here – link) it was a really decent saving that I was so pleased with as I’ve been hunting down a deal for the Buffing Brush for ages!
The big surprise from my shopping trip was my introduction to Primark Beauty. Oh. My. Gosh. This range is phenomenal and I can’t believe I haven’t checked it out sooner! In much the same way they approach their clothing section, they have almost everything you could think of, and it’s all broken down into sections, so you have the base section, a section for products that help you look bronzed and glowy, a section for palettes, a K-Beauty section, skincare, gadgets, devices, storage…it’s crazy good and I can’t wait to visit again soon. I picked up a couple of bits from the main range, including a very pretty pink lipstick, the My Perfect Colour Liquid Concealer and the Skin Frost stick, which just looked interesting as it provides a frosty highlight in a stick form.
I also grabbed a couple of bits from the K-Beauty Section, starting with the Pillow Talk Lip Cushion (in pink, surprise!) and the cutest little sparkly unicorn sponge thing that isn’t the greatest product you’ll ever find for applying base products, but when it’s this pretty, who cares? I actually use it to take away any extra product when I’ve been too heavy-handed – I can find a purpose for anything, me…
Saving the very best until last are these incredibly lovely highlighters which just could not have impressed me more. Available in a range of shades, I picked up the two cooler-leaning ones (I think there were about five shades in total) and they are absolutely brilliant and punch miles above their price point of £3. The two shades I have are Mink Pink and Brunch Club, and they are both absolutely gorgeous.
Above I’ve swatched the two highlighters followed by the Frost Stick. I often find cheap highlighters to be all glitter and sparkle, but these give skin that fantastically gentle lick of light that the stupendously expensive ones achieve so well. Count me mightily impressed with these highlighters as I’ve been reaching for them both regularly since I purchased. You can’t buy Primark Beauty online (although you can have a nose at what they have online here – link) so you’re best to visit a store and get swatching.
*All purchased by me
