YOUTUBE MADE ME BUY IT.

PRODUCTS I'VE BOUGHT SOLELY BECAUSE OF YOUTUBE. 

Hi! Today I'm doing something slightly different, and I'm showing you products I've bought because of recommendations from YouTubers! I watch a lot of YouTube, it's a slight addiction, but I feel like its a good way to learn and find out about the latest products. Makeup and skin care is not 'one size fits all', so what works well for other people may not work for you, it's definitely important to remember that, and even though I haven't liked all of these products it's definitely taught me what I do like and what I'm personally looking for in certain products. I got this idea from YouTube (shock) from KathleenLights but it's a great idea and I had a lot of the same products as she did! A lot of the products in my previous posts were purchased because of YouTube so I've tried to look at things I haven't already mentioned because obviously the products I've already talked about I liked! 

• PHYSICIANS FORMULA: BUTTER BRONZER [LIGHT]

The first item is the Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer in the shade Light. I got this because of several YouTubers talking about it. This isn't a brand that I'd heard of outside YouTube and isn't very easily accessed in the UK. I love this product. It smells amazing and it's one of the most natural bronzers I own. I do like matte bronzers but this one is luminous and is the best at replicating natural sunlight. I got this from eBay and it's relatively cheap compared to high end brands, I'm assuming if this brand is sold in the country you're in it'll be ever cheaper. Depending on how tanned I am I like to layer this on top of a darker matte bronzer to add luminosity and and make it look (slightly) more natural. 

• ZOEVA: SMOKY PALETTE

I really like Zoeva as a brand, and until YouTube I hadn't really heard much about them. Zoeva make some of my favourite makeup brushes, they're amazing quality and very affordable. They also have a good range of makeup, mainly eye products. After seeing this palette on Jamie Genevieve's channel I decided to invest. As much as I like Zoeva as a brand I just don't love this product; I also have the Coco Blend palette which I feel similarly about. I just don't feel like the shadows blend or are as pigmented as other, similarly affordable, brands. Additionally, and this is totally my fault, I just don't really like cool toned colours on my eyes personally and this is quite a cool toned palette. Don't get me wrong, I feel this is a great starter palette and it's a very reasonable price, but I just don't find myself reaching for it that often. 

• LUSH COSMETICS: CUP O' COFFEE SCRUB

As with the last product, I first saw this on the channel of Jamie Genevieve. I always used to feel intimidated when I went into Lush because I had no idea what I was looking for, what my skin type was or what it needed. I love this product and I've repurchased it several times since I started using it. It's a reasonably coarse face and body scrub which is amazing for exfoliating. I personally hate coffee, and I hate the smell of coffee but I've just learned to get over it because I like this product so much. Of course that won't be a problem if you like the smell. I use this all over my body but particularly my face. The only thing I would say is that because it contains small granules they can tend to work their way up into the hairline. Because of that I only use it on days I wash my hair (which is only around once a week) so that you can properly get it out your hair. Additionally, because I don't use it that often it lasts me quite a long time, although Lush products do have very clear expiration dates.

• KAT VON D: SHADE & LIGHT CONTOUR PALETTE

I can't specifically remember which YouTuber I saw mention this product although it was probably ALL of them. I probably would've bought this product anyway because it's so popular. As you can probably tell from the photo I really like this product, although it's not my favourite contour palette out there. I don't get much use out of the two right hand colours because they're too dark for me but the other colours are great, especially the cooler toned contour colour. She's recently brought out a second contour palette with refillable pans which is amazing because my only criticism of this one you'd have to buy a whole new palette if you run out of one colour. 

• ILLAMASQUA: SKIN BASE FOUNDATION

Once again, I bought this product because of Jamie Genevieve. I had previously bought the other Illamasqua Rich Liquid foundation because of YouTube which I absolutely hated, I just couldn't get it to work with my skin at all, so I bought this one in the hope it would be better. I quite like this foundation, although my biggest problem was that I got the wrong shade which is totally my fault. Additionally I never felt like the foundation actually dried and set properly, it would always feel like it was transferring and sliding around which I obviously wasn't a fan of. I don't really use this foundation at all anymore, I feel like you can get better foundations for the same price, or cheaper.

• BECCA COSMETICS: JACLYN HILL CHAMPAGNE POP HIGHLIGHT

OBVIOUSLY, I got this product because of YouTube. Jaclyn Hill is one of the most successful YouTubers out there and she's collaborated with many cosmetics companies, most famously of course, with Becca Cosmetics. I do really like this product, although it works most effectively for me when I've got a bit of a tan. Because I'm quite pale naturally it isn't as evident on my skin on top of my paler foundations. I haven't actually hit pan on this product, I accidentally put my finger in it and ended up digging out loads of product, it's so sad. I'm glad I got this product and it's actually made me want more Becca highlighters. 

• MAKEUP FOREVER: ULTRA HD STICK FOUNDATION

This product I bought because of NikkieTutorials, who, most famously, introduced us all to the Nivea Post Shave Balm as a primer. This is the Makeup Forever Ultra HD Stick Foundation. I'd never tried a stick foundation before this so I wasn't sure to expect. My reservations with stick foundations are that they are hard to apply and don't blend very effectively. I've subsequently seen loads and loads of people swear by this product but I just cannot seem to get it to work for me. Every time I use it I feel like I'm dragging the product across my skin to try and blend it out and after all of that dragging there's barely any product left on my face. I've definitely had a problem with my skin seeming dry and products (particularly cream products) being difficult to blend out. I'm going to try and make more of an effort to rectify this with my skin, perhaps by prepping it differently, because I can't believe that this works for so many people and not for me!

• BEAUTY BLENDER: ORIGINAL BEAUTY BLENDER 

I can't even believe I didn't use a Beauty Blender for ages, now I can't live without them. I used to apply my foundation with a big kabuki brush but it always used to leave brush marks all over my face and foundation. I've never been unhappy with the finish of my foundation when using a Beauty Blender, and it's amazing for blending out concealer, under eye concealer and cream highlight/contour. I personally wash my Beauty Blender every time I use it, mainly because I find that it soaks a lot of product in which then makes it not blend out as nicely when it's dirty. I've tried the Real Techniques sponge but I just don't like that one as much, it's a bit too big and firm. 

• NUME: CURLING WAND

The final item is a curling wand! I've tried so many curling wands that just haven't worked for me. My hair is particularly difficult to curl because it's long and very very thick, so usually the curls just drop out. Also now that my hair is blonde on the ends it holds curls a lot easier- this is the only curling wand I've used that's ever been able to create curls that hold. This wand came with 3 detachable barrels, I think the one shown is the medium one, and I use it with with the heat glove so I don't burn myself (although I've burnt myself loads because I'm clumsy). I've also just bought a hair dryer from the same brand. 

I really like most of these products, and even if I haven't loved some of them they've been good in helping me learn what I like and what works for me. As with all products what works for one person may not work for someone else so I would always advise that you do research and look at a full spectrum of reviews! Let me know any different blog posts or reviews you'd like to see- I'd be happy for some requests!

thanks for reading,

CATRIONA

x