Brand Favourites – Makeup Revolution London

With such a seamless variety of drugstore brands being launched in India recently, there is temptation at every turn  — or better still — every scroll! Spoilt for choice and overloaded with impressions from the blogger community, it has become increasingly confusing to understand what to finally invest in when the time arrives. I often spend sleepless nights researching new brands, new product launches, or new makeup trends that are set to hit the beauty market — and yet, I never feel adequately satisfied when I have to take the final plunge — especially if I can’t (literally) afford to make mistakes with my choices. After all, drugstore or not, makeup is always a handsome (frivolous?) investment.

Some of my favourite drugstore brands — Wet n Wild, Milani, Kiko Milano, NYX Professional Makeup, L.A. Girl, The Face Shop, Innisfree, Makeup Revolution London — almost always rise up to duly fulfil any makeup needs I might have. I have to admit that a lot of international bloggers and You Tubers help me decide what I finally buy, and mostly, I love what I spend my dough on. For me to love something, the product has to be absolutely premium in quality, sustainable, something I would repurchase, and something that I can find easily where I live.

Makeup Revolution London is an affordable and versatile brand when it comes to creating makeup that has something for everyone. A lot of brands created dupes for the Urban Decay Naked palettes, and for the Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops, but these guys did it really well. The entire Iconic Eye Shadow Palette range is almost exactly similar to many of the Urban Decay palettes, and even the ones that aren’t, are really good.

I have a lot of favourites from the brand (including some that I am still trying and have not included here – Soph eye shadow palettes! – hint hint!), and these are products I will definitely repurchase when I run out of them. For the price point, they are fantastic in quality, wearability and lasting power. So, here we go — this is yet another brand favourites post with mini reviews of my most-loved products from Makeup Revolution London (see my Wet n Wild brand favourites in an older post here).

Iconic Smokey Palette

With such an overdose of smokey eyes everywhere, one cannot imagine where to begin, what palette to try or what colours may work for you. Gone are the days when smokey eyes meant greys, silvers, blues, greens, and blacks or basically — cool-toned eyes. The new definition of a smokey eye is anything with dark edges, smoked out (or smudged-through) to create a gradient of colour across the lid going from light (or shimmery) towards the inner corners to dark (and winged) towards the outer corners.

However, the Iconic Smokey Palette is your typical smokey eye palette with 4 matte shades and 8 shimmers tending towards being cool-toned. I personally wear warm-toned shadows, but strangely use this palette every time I need to create a typical smokey eye for the night. The most beautiful shade in the palette is the matte, cool-toned dark brown — and although I prefer a warm-toned brown to line my waterline, this is the only cool-toned brown that I absolutely dig. These shadows do not have a lot of kick-out, they stay-on for 5-6 hours with a primer and a setting spray, they blend well, and you get a great variety of shadows for the price you pay. All-in-all, if you are looking for a drugstore version of the Urban Decay Smokey palette, look this way please.

Luxury Banana Powder

A close dupe for the Laura Mercier Loose Powder, this slightly yellow-toned, fine, loose banana powder is perfect for setting your under-eye concealer (or baking), brightening the skin and neutralizing any redness/darkness under the eyes. It leaves skin feeling naturally mattified, stays on for 3-4 hours (after which time, you may easily reapply with a large face brush), and though it has no reflective particles in it, it feels smooth and radiant on the skin. It is finely milled but not so fine that between the brush picking up the product and depositing it on your skin, you are lost in a yellow cloud of powder dust in your face. I absolutely hate that. But, this powder, I love.

On days when I can make that extra time for loose powder instead of pressed, I  use only this banana powder. I have nothing to really complain about — it’s everything you need in a good quality banana powder.

Pro Fix Illuminating Fixing Spray

As much as I love this fixing spray, I want to say at the very start that if you have oily skin or sweaty skin, this may not be the one for you. Remember, I have extremely dry skin — dry as a desert — so anything that leaves a dewy, almost-wet finish works really well for my needs. I am all about the natural dewiness — the lit from within, the angelic glow vibes. If you are looking for an equally great setting spray for normal to oily skin – research the Milani Make it Last setting spray.

The Pro Fix Illuminating Fixing Spray has tiny reflective particles in it that catch light at certain angles and gives makeup a fresh, healthy twist. It allows the makeup to sink into your skin, seamlessly homogenizing all the layers of makeup, and helping it last unscathed for hours on end (5-6 at least) — unless you are like me and have an excruciating desire to itch your face soon after the concealer goes on. It feels very wet as soon as it is sprayed on the face, but settles down in about 3-4 minutes to a wet, dewy finish. This finish might not be ideal for portrait photography as the dewy finish may make skin look oily or sweaty in photos. Just a note of caution for other bloggers out there.

My only qualm with this setting spray is the quality of the mist — I would expect that the mist be finer, and more continuous (yes, the continuous mist fetish continues). It is crucial to note here that both this one and the Milani fixing spray have a good amount of alcohol in them that isn’t ideal for the skin — so beware, if your skin isn’t alcohol friendly — in which case, just drink some to feel better.

Ultra Face Base Primer

Your typical silicone-based, smooth, easy primer, the ultra face base primer has been my go-to face primer for almost a year now. I am not mad about tinted primers, because they can sometimes interfere with the shade of my foundation (especially if they are too yellow-toned or peach-toned), and also because I have an unsettling feeling of having too many layers of makeup on (yes, it’s only in my head because tinted or not, a layer of primer is a legit layer after all). It’s one of those odd things about me (not the only one, I promise).

This primer is a great universal primer — does the job, helps foundation stick on and glide on like magic, keeps it going strong for an extra couple of hours, and ensures that any products you use on top of your primer do not accentuate or cling on to dry patches. Being silicone-y in texture, it also fills in pores to some extent and overall, provides a good canvas to begin with. If I needed a no-fuss primer, I’d simply roll with this one.

Liquid Highlighter in Liquid Champagne

I have reviewed this highlighter in an older post I did in the beginning of the year, but decided to include it once again in this post as this product still continues to be much-loved and continues to blow my mind. Also, a brand favourites from Makeup Revolution London, would be so incomplete without it — like the unsung lyrics of a beautiful song (I had to end it my way).

Tell me what are your favourites from Makeup Revolution London?

Until next time, XOXO