FENTY BEAUTY REVIEW - Worth the Hype?

Fenty Beauty finally dropped on Friday, and of course, I was downstairs at half 7 in the morning watching the countdown so that I could be one of the first to buy it. Obviously, it was not going to run smooth for me... I waited half an hour for it to go live, then waited 18 minutes to actually get onto the site as there was too much online traffic, to only find out that you can only buy the products through the Fenty Beauty website if you are buying in the US... I swear this stuff always happens to me. Thankfully, there were some wonderful ladies on twitter who advised me to look on Sephora (which had the same problem), or Harvey Nichols - which (eureka!) delivered to people in the UK... And it would arrive on the Monday!? Ri-Ri gurllll, I love ya! No offence Kylie, but 3 weeks for a lipkit? Please take notes from Rihanna and have some stock here in the UK, 'cos that wait was painful.

ANYWHO... Back to Fenty Beauty. I ordered their foundation brush, their foundation, and one of their highlighter duos... If I had the money I would have bought waaaay more, but it isn't cheap, so perhaps it wasn't a bad thing that I had little in my account lollll. 

The make-up comes in this really cool and lovely packaging - the boxes have a black, white and pink, kind of graffiti-like design. I'll just insert some pictures as I'm clearly not very good at describing!

See, it is so Rihanna - edgy and cool. However, the products themselves are stripped back and plain, emitting luxury... It's just gorgeous. 

Now for the nitty gritty part of the review: how are these products, and are they all they're made out to be?

FULL-BODIED FOUNDATION BRUSH - 110

Ugh, this foundation brush is absolutely beautiful, I mean just look at it. It's light pink, has a nice sleek shape, and although you can't physically see this... It's very very soft and smooth. It picks up and distributes product wonderfully, so that you don't actually need too much. It's a fabulous brush, and I think it could replace the foundation brush I usually use (which is a Real Techniques number). I am not saying that this brush is an absolute necessity, but if you were thinking of purchasing it then DO IT basically hahah!

This particular brush retails at $34, which is £26 in the UK. Yup, it is pretty pricey for one brush - considering I paid £32.99 on 15 brushes the other day (which I reviewed and can be read here). However, it applies foundation seamlessly, and looks stunning... I dunno, in my head it's totally worth it...

PRO FILT'R SOFT MATTE LONGWEAR FOUNDATION

I bought this foundation in the shade 120. I am so bad at colour matching, and even more-so buying online when the product is not physically in front of me. However, somehow this colour matches me to a T! It is probably the best foundation I own in terms of matching my skin tone, so that is excellent. I tested this foundation on top of my usual primer, and it applied really well. What I will say though, is that this foundation is definitely not full coverage. On my skin, it is lightweight, and sheer, so you can still see your freckles and some imperfections, but it does get rid of redness. You can barely tell your wearing foundation, and you genuinely do not feel like you are wearing foundation either.

If you are after a foundation which literally hides your natural skin, then this is not the foundation for you. I do like how it looks though, and I think I will probably wear this foundation in the daytime. So personally, this foundation is not a holy grail... I know a lot of beauty gurus online have been raving about it, but generally, it is like any other lightweight foundation. The product packaging itself is divine, and does look high-end, but the foundation inside is nothing spectacular.

This retails at $34, which again is £26.

KILLAWATT FREESTYLE HIGHLIGHTER DUO - Mean Money/Hu$tla Baby

Now for the good stuff... HIGHLIGHTERS. I absolutely loveeeeee this duo. Mean Money is very subtle and lovely for everyday makeup, whereas Hu$tla Baby will literally make your cheekbones shine bright like a diamond (yes, the pun was intended, and yes... It was so worth it). I cannot wait to wear Hu$ta Baby on a night out, because it looks incredible. 

The formula of these highlighters is beautiful. They are buttery soft and super creamy, so it is easy to blend and apply to the face. The packaging itself is also to die for - I love the octagon design, which is imperative to this collection, and it just feels sleek. It also has a mirror inside which is fabulous! The product itself has an 'FB' embossed on each of the highlighter shades... ugh it's lush! It's the small things like that y'know, it makes all the difference. So yes, in conclusion to this little segment, the highlighters are worth the money. Trophy Wife looks especially insane!! I don't think I'd buy it though, just because I don't think it would suit my skin tone :( But all in all, I am very happy with the shade(s) I purchased.

The highlighting duo shades retail at $34 also, which... you guessed it, is £26 in the UK.

So what are my final thoughts of this collection? Well, I love Rihanna, and I am so pleased that she's been very successful with her Fenty Beauty makeup range. Personally, the foundation is not necessarily worth the hype for a full coverage makeup look, however, for everyday it is perfectly alright. The foundation brush and the highlighter duo, on the other hand, are amazing. They are totally worth the hype, and I would recommend them to my friends, and to you guys. My absolute favourite product I have reviewed (if I have to pick one) has got to be the highlighters - I like how you have a choice of a subtle shade, and a literal KILLERWATT shade. They feel and look luxurious, and are probably the best highlighters I have ever used!

You can purchase Fenty Beauty products in the UK from Harvey Nichols.

Have you tried any of the Fenty Beauty range? What did you think?

Cheerio x

BH Cosmetics Brush Review

Make-up brushes come in all shapes and sizes, and can really vary in price and quality, so it can be quite difficult deciding which brushes to buy. One of the cheaper options out there is the BH Cosmetics brush set(s). I first saw these brush sets on a Beauty Bay advert on my Facebook, and I could hardly believe the price of the sets! All of the eyeshadow brush sets seem to come in some sort of storage, from a roll-up bag to a little decorative box, costing between £20-£32!!

Unfortunately for me, as I was scrolling through all the different options, almost all of the brush sets had sold out. After about 20 mins of looking, I eventually found the 15 Piece Rose Gold Makeup Brush Set which cost £32.99 on Beauty Bay. In comparison to the other beauty brands selling brushes on the website, it was definitely the cheapest, and the best value for money, so naturally... I caved and purchased it.

When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. The brushes came in a dark brown, faux leather, quilted roll-mat/bag, with a gorgeous gold detail to open/shut the mat. As for the brushes, they are also very beautiful to look at; they have a light brown handle, gold details and the brush heads are super duper soft considering how much they cost.

There seems to be 3 face brushes including a big fluffy powder brush, an angled brush which I am guessing could be used for contouring and blush, and a small foundation brush. Personally, I do not think I will be reaching for the foundation brush much, just sheerly because of its design and the size. I prefer to use either a beauty blender sponge, or a slightly dense synthetic foundation brush. As for the other two brushes, they are very soft and a good size, so I will probably use them, and I think they are a good addition to any collection.

The majority (10) of the brushes in this set are eyeshadow orientated. I am not mad about the fact that there are so many eyeshadow brushes in this set, as I like to have options... When applying your base make-up you only need 3-4 brushes, so I am not bothered at the fact that there are only 3 face brushes in comparison to 10 eyeshadow brushes.

However, what I will say is that there are loads of the same style brush... which does make me slightly mad, as it isn't even the most useful shape! They are all flat - good for applying concealer for a cut crease, and also more glittery shades on top of that... But, you only really need 2 (maybe 3) brushes for that. Why do we need so many of that style?! I just don't get it! Literally, the only variation of it is the size!

In the set, there is a tapered blending brush. It is the fluffiest eyeshadow brush in this set, and is my favourite. It collects product like a dream, and blends it out super easy, and it is nice and soft on the eye. I cannot recommend that brush enough! There are 2 eyeliner brushes - one fine, and one angled... I don't tend to use these type of brushes, but they seem pretty sturdy and soft, so I think they will work fine.

There is also a small tapered blending brush, which I used it to blend a darker colour into my crease. It isn't as easy to work with as the fluffier blending brush, but it isn't terrible and does the job. It isn't as soft; it is denser, so perhaps that is why it didn't blend as easy as the other one. It's no biggie though, as it isn't the worst brush I have ever used. Another brush included is the tapered smudge brush, which I used like a pencil brush - I am not entirely sure if they are the same thing, but yeah. I used it under my eye and it did an amazing job. It dragged the colour out easily, and felt nice on my skin. Again, it did the job, so I would recommend this brush!

Finally, there is a spooled brush and a brow and lash grooming brush. Not essential in a brush set, but are very handy - especially if you have to deal with a clumpy mascara!

All in all, I believe this set does deliver in terms of the quality. The price really is exceptional for its high quality, soft brushes that really do do the job that is at hand. However, I am disappointed with the lack of variety with the eyeshadow brushes. I think it would be much more beneficial to include a couple of other fluffy brushes, just so you can use a clean brush to further blend out the edges. I would happily recommend this companies brushes to a friend, I would suggest possibly looking for one with more of a range of eyeshadow brushes, but it isn't any biggie!

Unfortunately this set is sold out on Beauty Bay, however, the BH Cosmetics site has loads of there brush sets still available... And they are on sale! It is in US dollars, however it does state that they do international shipping! You can purchase the 15 Piece Rose Gold Makeup Brush Set online here for $14.73 - an absolute bargain if you ask me! Go get it!!