Today I wanted to share with you a few products which didn't live up to my expectations. However, I don't have enough to say on them to make each review seperate. Therefore I thought I would start up a new series called 'I wouldn't recommend...' where I can pop up a bunch of mini reviews of products I wasn't fussed about. So without further ado, I shall get on with it!
The first product I want to talk about is this W7 Bronzer* which I received at a press event. I was absolutely all over this at the time. I picked it up, swatched it on my hand and it seemed amazing. It's a matte bronzer which is perfect for my oily skin. It didn't seem too orange or too muddy so overall I was impressed and was lucky enough to receive one in my goody bag.
I wasn't overly enthralled by the design of the packaging, but that wouldn't stop me using a product if I really loved it - which I did.
I swatched it in my Youtube video (hello finger prints) and I still liked it. However when I started to apply this on my face with my contour brush, things seemed to change. The powder seemed really crumbly. I don't mean that it broke into pieces, but there seemed to be a lot of fall out everywhere. When I applied it to my face it seemed extremely orange and harsh against my very fair skin tone, regardless of how much I tried to blend it out. I think because the skin on my face is a different colour to my hands, I ended up realising I was too fair skinned for this particular product. Either way, I ended up being cover in the powder just by running my brush along the top. In the end I decided I had much better bronzers in my collection and wasn't bothered about using this one again.
The next product we have is the Laura Geller Gel Liner which I received in my Birchbox a little while back. I was so excited to try this because I figured a purple liner would really make my blue eyes pop. I have been excited to try Laura Geller products in general since I did a review of the Bronze and Brighten compact. In that review I spoke about Laura Geller products being hard to get hold of and the next thing you know, everyones receiving them in their Birchbox!
I think the packaging design is really cute. I love the hidden brush in the lid which is really soft and pretty good quality. It's easy and compact to carry about with you without any mess.
However the liner just wasn't as pigmented as I hoped it would be. It takes a while of layering up the product to create a bold colour, and even then it falls a bit flat to me. I was expecting something more shimmery or vibrant - just something different. However it ended up being a mucky purple colour which I didn't enjoy too much. As you would expect from a gel liner, it stayed in place well. So maybe if I tried a different colour my thoughts would be different, but it would have to be more opaque next time. The brush also seemed like an awkward shape for trying to get a nice thin line. Over all I just found this product to be not what I expected and wouldn't be fussed about buying it again.
Finally we come to another product which I received in my Birchbox a few months back. After becoming quite a fan of the Vichy Normaderm 3 in 1 Cleanser, Scrub and Mask, I had high hopes for liking other Vichy products and therefore couldn't wait to try this. I believe that this is just for freshening up your face throughout the day, but it can be used before makeup as a toner etc.
After watching Pixiwoo's Body Talk video with Caroline Hirons, I felt a bit skeptical about using this. She says not to use spray-on water because it will dry and dehydrate the skin further. Either way, I figured that I had this already and may as well give it a try regardless. With this product I didn't find that it dehydrated my face but what I did find is that it left a film of grease behind. I literally felt like I had sprayed oil on my skin and it didn't feel very comfortable in the slightest. Maybe I sprayed it too close to my face, or maybe I sprayed too much. However I don't feel like this could be possible and haven't felt the urge to try this product again since.
And that is the end of my mini reviews :) I hope that you found this helpful, and if you have tried any of the products above, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. It's always nice to get your perspectives and see how you make the product work well for you.
