My second ever post for this newsletter was about how much of a chump I am — if you are a pretty person on social media and you tell me something is good, I will probably purchase it. I’ll think about it for a little while, but we both know that mentally, spiritually, I have already added to cart.
That was almost two years ago (scream emoji) and since then, I have taken to TikTok with relish. I do be scrolling, lads. TikTok is an ever-widening pool of pretty people talking about things they like… and yet another way for me to discover things I want to buy.
So, here are some more things I’ve been #influenced to try, this time by TikTok. For every product I’ve actually bought, there are approximately seventeen more sitting patiently in my bookmarks waiting for their turn. This is the way.
Trigwell Cosmetics mini powder puff
I never really thought much about my undereyes beyond concealing and powdering — “set it and forget it” was always my perspective. But our wedding is fast approaching (three months to go omfg) and instead of worrying about actually important stuff, I am obsessing over my undereyes. What if they look dry? What if they crease? What if the concealer melts away? WHAT THEN?! (I’m being a tad hyperbolic here… rest assured, I am worrying about everything equally!)
I kept seeing videos about this magic velvet powder puff from Welsh brand Trigwell Cosmetics that apparently sets everything gorgeously and keeps it from creasing. The triangular shape makes it so easy to get into all the little crevices! Your skin looks smooth, as if you’ve got a real-life filter on! I know. We’ve heard this kind of thing before. Charlotte Tilbury has built her entire brand upon it. But your skin will always look like skin and no powder or powder puff can change that.
And yet. I bought a pack of two puffs from Beauty Bay, applied my concealer, and patted on some of the Hourglass Veil loose powder (which is nice but not life-changing, BTW). I marvelled at how smooth and perfect my skin looked, for indeed, it did appear filtered. Then I went about my business for the day. A few hours later, I inspected my undereyes… which somehow looked worse than they’d ever looked when I’d applied powder with a regular degular brush. Dry, creased beyond saving, just ghastly all round. I tried this method a few more times, and each time got the same result. I suspect the puffs pack on too much powder when less is generally better for that area, at least in my opinion.
So. Not for my undereyes. I also discovered that you can get multipacks of similarly shaped velvet powder puffs on Amazon, so I feel duped in several ways. I will continue to use it to set my face (it works very nicely on parts of your face that move less) and seek further counsel on undereye matters.
All the beauty girlies have been talking about over the last few months have been glitter eyeshadow toppers (or at least, the beauty girlies the algorithm has been serving me). Yes, I thought, there IS a place in my makeup bag for a stunning glitter shadow. But very specifically, it must be a neutral metallic — not totally gold or totally silver, but one that could work for a variety of eye looks.
If you are deep into beauty TikTok like me, you may be thinking about Urban Decay Space Cowboy, which is the one they’re all currently crazy about. But no! That is not quite right. The base leans a bit too gold and as I mentioned, I was looking for neutral.
Then this gal landed on my FYP and I knew instantly that whatever she was wearing was *it* — and *it* happened to be Bobbi Brown’s Luxe Eye Shadow in Moonstone. A few days later, I saw my TikTok fave Frenchtouchofmakeup using it and decided to take the plunge. Is it everything I wanted? Yes! Subtle yet undeniably sparkly, neutral metallic, an almost wet-look shine. I like to put it right on the lash line in the centre of my lid for a little pop. I am very comfortable with an all-out glitter look, as you know, but sometimes just a touch of glitz is very lovely.
Was every single influencer given money to promote this across all social media platforms? Seems like it. I don’t usually buy mascaras that cost over €15 (this is €28.50-€30 here depending on the retailer) but I fell for the hype. It proclaims itself to be buildable, allowing you to “stack” layers of volume and length without clumping or flaking. There are two types of brush available — a big one and a wee one — and I chose the big one because generally, I like big brushes and I cannot lie.
Does it work as advertised? Yes… and no. It provides volume and length, and you are able to build it up to your desired level of impact. However, it’s messy. I find I always need to clean up with a q-tip, and I don’t like putting it on my bottom lashes at all, because I’ll have panda eyes faster than I can say “hashtag ad.” Even giving it a few weeks to dry up didn’t help matters. And a final point: The plastic brush is very spiky and kind of hurts?! This was a good reminder to me to never buy an expensive mascara again. I’m learning and growing all the time!
Thank you for reading Vanity Project! I’m currently prepping my 2022 favourites list, so keep your eyes peeled for that in the gooch of the year (or the period between Christmas and New Year). See you then!
Another great read. Always makes me smile. I have also given up on fancy mascara’s a while back. My last indulgence was a Dior but I’m sticking to Catrice. The something Doll is as good if not better than the fancy brands in my humble opinion. 🙂