Soon it’ll be time to go back to school, college or university so I thought I’d set myself a little challenge of ‘back to school beauty for under £20!’ I set off to Boots on a mission to find drugstore makeup that could make over a whole face for the budget price of £20 – pretty good going for a full face!
I’ll start by saying that this challenge was in no way easy. I first set out with a budget of just £15, but after a half hour of roaming around the same counters in Boots, swatching colours, checking prices and having a slight tantrum that my budget kept going over, I realised that there was no way I could get what I needed for under £15! I decided to give myself an extra £5 and see what I could find.
Here are the products that I picked out:
.jpg)
- Natural Collection Shine Away Foundation in Porcelain £1.99
- Collection Lasting Perfect Ultimate Wear Concealer in Fair 1 £4.19
- Collection Pressed Powder in 18 Ivory £1.99
- Natural Collection Duo Eyeshadow in Mocha/Latte £1.99
- Natural Collection eyeshadow in Candy Floss £1.99
- Natural Collection eyeshadow in White Opal £1.99
- Collection Colour Lash All Day Wear Colour Mascara in Black £1.99
- Miss Sporty Instant Colour and Shine Lip Colour in Pink Popsicle £2.99
The products came to a grand total of £19.12.
Natural Collection Shine Away Foundation in Porcelain
One of the cheapest foundations on the market, for just £1.99 you can get a pretty decent coverage foundation from Natural Collection. A strange consistency to what I’m used to, the thick, creamy formula takes a little working in to the skin but looks quite nice and fresh on the skin once it’s settled in. I used the colour Porcelain which I believe is the fairest colour in the collection but is still a little dark for me.
Collection Lasting Perfect Ultimate Wear Concealer in Fair 1
I’ve used Collection foundation before and didn’t really get along with it well enough to ever repurchase, however, I’ve read many a good review on the concealer since and thought it would be a great product to try out in my budget beauty challenge. The concealer is one of my most expensive purchases of todays haul coming in at £4.19, but it’s an amazingly full coverage and sits so well on the skin. The concealer sets very quickly so you need to work fast with this formulation to blend it in evenly. Once it sets, it feels firmly in place and I was pleased to see that it didn’t crease up quite so quickly as other concealers I’ve used on my under eye area.
Collection Pressed Powder in 18 Ivory
I used to use this pressed powder back when I was in school and smelling that strong, perfume powdery smell brought back a lot of memories! A little strong for my liking, the powder really does have the type of strong, floral scent you’d typically associate with the older generation. If you’re anything like me, I can’t skip the powder step in my routine and like to make sure my foundation is set nicely. A basic powder that does the job when used in small doses.
.jpg)
Natural Collection Duo Eyeshadow in Mocha/Latte
The Mocha/Latte eyeshadow duo had four uses for me today: An eyeshadow, a brow bone highlight, a brow powder and a cheekbone contour! I used the lighter Latte shade all over my lid up to the brow bone and used the soft brown to fill in my brows. Nicely pigmented and an even coverage.
Natural Collection eyeshadow in Candy Floss
I originally picked this eyeshadow up to use as a cheek colour, a blush if you will, but found that upon application it was just a little too light. It is rather beautiful as an iridescent cheek highlight though!
Natural Collection eyeshadow in White Opal
Highlight perfection! I used this little pot of shimmer to highlight my brow bone, cupids bow, cheekbones and the inner corner of my eyes. I even decided to pat a little over the Latte eyeshadow to add a little shimmer to my eye colour. Probably my favourite purchase from my mini haul.
Collection Colour Lash All Day Wear Colour Mascara in Black
A black mascara that is said to condition lashes, be smudgeproof and also be enriched with proteins. I usually have trouble with my mascara smudging underneath my eyes so I tend to opt for waterproof formulas. Over an hour in, and my mascara is still set firmly where it should be. I find the formula to be quite volumising and the applicator wand is quite nice considering the £1.99 price tag!
Miss Sporty Instant Colour and Shine Lip Colour in Pink Popsicle
A balm like texture with a hint of colour, I really like the subtlety of these lip colours. What I really don’t like however, is the crayony smell that seems to linger long after application. Seen as the Candy Floss eyeshadow didn’t quite work out for me as a blush, I also used this lip colour to add a little flush of blush to my cheeks which you can just about see in the pictures.
.jpg)
I think it really is so hard to find products to make over a full face for under £20! The consistency and textures are certainly a lot different to my usual favourites from MAC or Illamsqua but in amongst the challenge products, I feel like I really found a few gems! If you need a budget highlighter, the Natural Collection eyeshadow in White Opal is lovely, and for a concealer with excellent coverage and staying power, I don’t think Collection’s Lasting Perfect Ultimate Wear Concealer will let you down!
I hope that you enjoyed my back to school beauty for under £20 challenge!
© This post is copyright of Rachael Divers 2015.
