5 of the best... high street brands for dark skin

If you're anything darker than a mocha, beauty shopping on the UK high street can be real tough. If it's not ashy or orangy foundation it's blush and shadows in shades that just don't suit. While I tend to splurge a little too much on luxury brands, I do think that that should be something that's a choice not the only option. However, these are my pick of the best high street, inexpensive brands that cater for Black and Asian skin. 

Sleek

The holy grail in inexpensive dark skin make-up, available at Boots, Superdrug and online. The pigment in the blush and shadows are amazing and the base shade range is really vast.  

Top picks - CC Cream, Foundation, Contour Kit

Kiko

I don't own loads from KIKO but what I do own I like a lot. It's not the cheapest "high street" brand but I like the fact that for all of their face products, there's a dark option. The quality of the range is on point too! 

Top pick - Highlighter  

Rimmel

Ok, let's just get this straight, Rimmel's base offering for dark skin is non-existent however, there shadowsticks and lipsticks are highly-pigmented enough for deeper skin tones.

Top picks - Shadow Sticks, Lipsticks 

Revlon

I love Revlon! The bases, powders, lipsticks... Everything. The quality of the foundations and the formula of the lipsticks are great for a high street brand. 

Top pick -  Illuminator

W7

I'm not keen on all W7 make-up but their Ebony range blushes are really really good - highly-pigmented and really tailored to dark skin. Sometimes I feel that the only high street blushes that are for dark skin are bright and bold, which is nice, but sometimes you just want a subtle glow to rock with a smoky eye or red lip.

Top pick - Ebony Blush

The Autumn Face - Lips and Eyes?

If we were playing word association and someone was to say ‘autumn’, most people would say ‘cold’ or ‘fallen leaves’ or something to that effect, but me, well I’d probably go for ‘new coat’ or ‘berry lips’ – I mean, they are my favourite things about this season (what can I say I'm a clothes and beauty addict)

I’m always for the rule 'eyes or lips' just like 'boobs or legs', it’s just nicer to accentuate one. However, I think I make an exception in the autumn, teaming rich brown eyeshadow with a berry lip. I love the M.A.C Paint Pot in Constructivist - for darker skin it gives a nice wash of colour without looking too heavy or borderline smoky, then finish the eyes with the Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner in Caviar Ink.

Having dry skin is the bane of my life and this just gets worse around this time of year. My lips don’t escape this, so a good balm is vital and I like to use moisturising lipsticks during the colder months because cracked lips aren’t an option. I think as long as one feature is still more accentuated, it's fun to experiment with richer tones -just don't go OTT homies.

Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder in Deep 4

Smashbox Liquid Halo Foundation in Shade 9

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in SC-8

M.A.C Paint Pot in Constructivist

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner in Caviar Ink

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry

M.A.C Lipliner in Currant

Bourjois Beauty’Full Volume Dark Khol Mascara

Love Keeks xo 

Love Makeup - Some Current Faves...

I feel that ever since I started working within the realm of beauty journalism, I have become such a floozie when it comes to makeup. I literally have draws and draws of the stuff, some still unopened – and that’s still while giving loads to my besties, mum and sisters.

For instance, I used to have two foundations; my trusty M.A.C Studio Fix Fluid and my YSL Le Teint Touché Eclat; now I have 8 in total. It’s getting ridiculous, I just want to try and buy everything, so I thought it would be a good idea to actually look at some of the products that I’ve been reaching for the most lately.

Clinique Superprimer Universal – It’s lightweight and sinks in so quickly. I like the fact that it’s water-based so I don’t feel like it’s just sitting on my skin.

Smashbox Liquid Halo Foundation – I love the fact that this gives the skin a nice glow while still being quite matte, a God send for us girlies with oily/combination skin.

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer – This is my ‘I need to look less dead’ go-to product. It’s also handy when I’m have a good skin day and don’t want to wear foundation but at the same time my eyes look like I’ve had no sleep.

Revlon Photoready Skinlights – This is my newest love. It’s an illuminator that you can either mix into your foundation or use as a highlighter. I like to use it as a subtle highlighter on the tops of my cheekbones – the shimmer is so subtle, which is great because I hate a highlighter where the glitter is chunky (hello 90s).

Laura Mercier Brow Gel – Before this I had just been using clear mascara to keep my brows in place, but I thought it was time I actually tried a gel specifically for grooming brows! It’s great, I mean, it does what it’s supposed to do. 

Liz Earle Radiant Glow Bronzer – Again, a subtle glow! The shimmer in this is so finely-milled it’s not even shimmer – it’s like you’ve been sun-kissed.

Revlon Lash Potion – I’m not going to lie, it was the packaging that did it for me. I bought this is Miami and I’d never see it over here (you can get it over here though!) so I instantly wanted it but it’s actually a great mascara. I’m not sure if it’s doing anything for my lashes but I like the brush.

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Cheek Rush – I love to put this on top of my primer but under my foundation. It’s a cheek tint with insane staying power and I find that popping it under my foundation (I don’t wear much) gives that ‘blushing from within’ look, which I love because it looks much more natural.

Shu Uemera Eyelash Curlers – Do I even need to say anything about these beauties? Say hello to fluttery lashes.

M.A.C Lip Liner in Hover – Ahhhh *angels descend and the choir sings* I’ve found my peeeeerfect nude lip liner! I wore this everyday with my M.A.C lipstick in Verve for a good month. It’s the dark skin nude lip combo from heaven. I’m going to do a post about it soon.

A Few New Additions.

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Deep Peach // Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in Cappuccino 

NARS Bronzing Powder in Casino // MAC Lipstick in Capricious

Hi Guys!

So I've made a few minor additions to my collection and I love them all so I thought I'd let you know about them.

Bobbi Brown Corrector - for the past couple of months I've been getting some real bad boy dark circles under my eyes. They have definitely eased slightly since I handed in my dissertation (phew), but I really wanted something to help cover them up for future times when more sleep is not an option. I was matched on a Bobbi Brown counter and it's a perfect shade for counteracting my dark circles. I use it before my foundation and without the concealer - I'm yet to purchased the creamy concealer, but it's next on my hit-list (ssshhh, don't tell my debit card).

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation - I've had this foundation for around 2 months and I definitely think it's going to be the base I mix with my moisturiser for the summer months. I've heard this be compared to a lighter coverage NARS Sheer Glow which I've always been intrigued about because of all the hype around it. Nearly Naked has a lovely finish, not dewy but not matte, it sits somewhere in the middle, I blend it in with my fingers and then buff it out with a buffing brush. I love the fact that it's a high street make up brand and a good colour match for me, which is something that's quite hard to find.

NARS Bronzing Powder - I featured this in my everyday make up post because as soon as I purchased this beauty I haven't looked back. It's love. Before this I had never used a bronzer, and nowadays, even if its a light sweep of whatever is leftover on my brush from the day before, I don't do my make up without it.

MAC Lipstick in Capricious - My new favourite nude. Don't get me wrong, I love love love my Chanel lipstick, but it's just so precious to me that I don't ever want it to run out. This lipstick is ridiculously wearable and the lustre finish means it's quite moisturising on the lips. 

I'm seriously in love with all of these products, have you got any new additions that you've been loving?

Love Keeks xo 

Revlon Lip Butters

Revlon Lip Butters - £7.99

I'm a sucker for blogger hype, and team that with the urge to try some new lip products, and the 3 for 2 deal on at Boots at the moment, this was bound to happen!

I caved and bought the much hyped Revlon Lip Butters. You see, they sounded like everything I'd love in a lip product - the colour from a lipstick and the moisture from a lip balm, it should have been a match made in heaven...

But really the lip butters are just a bit... blah.

Ok so there is a good colour variety and they swatch really well but, when I finally tried them on my lips the formula felt a bit tacky, even though it glided on well. They are the most confusing lipsticks ever!

I choose these three shades and one of them really doesn't suit me. I love the shade Lollipop but it's way too much of a bluey-pink for my skin tone so I had to say bye-bye to it and give it to mother. 

I think my biggest con is that they cling to dry lips, it's like your lips have to be in perfect condition for it to look good!

Overall I don't think they are a bad buy but I'm not raving about them. I think when a product is hyped up so much it's bound to disappoint slightly.

I will never ever give in to blogger hype again. I swear. (Until next time) 

Have any of you tried the Lip Butters? What do you think about them?

Love Keeks xo