Oriflame Makeup Haul

Oriflame are a Swedish based company that sell various beauty products both online and via a catalogue much like Avon but, up until a few years ago, I'd never actually heard of them. Recently though they held a massive sale at one of their warehouses near where I live and everything inside was reduced. You basically walked through the warehouse and were greeted by so many boxes and shelves full of makeup, body products and hair products as well as Christmas bits and bobs. There were several sections and each section had different priced items so in the first bit everything was 50p, the second everything was £1, the next bit £3 and in the last section items were £5 (me and my mum can't actually remember whether the £3 section existed but let's just go with that). I was literally in my element as they hold these events about 3 times a year but had only been once before as I was working all of the other times. A worker told me that this was the last time they were going to hold this event however as the warehouse was closing as Oriflame are moving their manufacturing to Poland.

I was surprisingly normal about the whole experience and came out with 7 items: 3 lipliners, a cream blush, a cream radiance kit, a conceal kit and a fan powder brush that I forgot to include (damn it). Each of the items were 50p (?!?!) and in total I paid £3 and I only just realised that they undercharged me! Aw I feel baaaaaad.

From left to right: unblended and blended

Firstly is this Studio Artist Cream Blush in the colour Pink Glow. This blush I would describe as a liquid, cream blush in that you squeeze the product out of the little tube and apply on to your cheeks. I'm really not keen on the colour of this blush as it gives that naturally flushed, 'help I've just gone for a brisk walk outside' look which a lot of people like but it really doesn't suit me because my skin is quite yellow (so attractive). This is perfect for a really natural makeup day however as it gives a very subtle bit of colour when applied lightly and has tiny bits of shimmer running through it which makes it flattering. It blends really well on the face and I just use my fingers to apply a little bit. On the website this blush was originally priced at £7.95 but is now reduced to £4.95 and I would be willing to pay that if there were more shades that appealed to me. I don't think I'll reach for this item often but it's nice to have anyway.

From left to right: the peach tone, the light champagne, the brown shade

Next is the Reveal Kit which is described as a highlighter palette and contains 3 different shades; the website describes the colours as matte pink, shimmering pink and beige but I would say the colours are more like peach, champagne and brown. I love the packaging of this as it's so cute and compact and it makes such a satisfying click when you close it. It was really difficult to take a picture of the swatches as they are really subtle so I tried to apply the product more heavily onto my arm but it made it look a bit cakey (good one Dani). All of the shades are so creamy and easy to blend and only a little bit is needed meaning it'll last a pretty long time. The peach shade would work really well as a brow highlight to finish them off after filling them in while the champagne colour works best as a highlight shade and I really like using it on my cupid's bow. The browny shade comes out more golden so would be better for darker skin tones or for when I get a tan (if ever). This is usually £4.95 which is a fair price as you are essentially getting 3 products in one and would be handy to carry around in your bag.

This is the Conceal Kit and I actually loveeeeee it! Aside from the fact that IT LOOKS SO COOL it's really handy to colour correct imperfections on your face using the kit. The peach tone works to neutralise under eye circles while the more yellow shade acts to brighten the skin tone and, finally, the green cancels out redness so is great for spots. Such a small amount of each colour is needed and it blends out so well but it's also really easy to use too much which is frustrating when your once red spot turns green. Like the reveal kit the colours have such a creamy formula making it really easy to work into the skin and look natural and I've found I've been using this everyday. This kit was originally £8.45 but is now down to £6.95 and I would really recommend it for everyday use.

From left to right: Hot Coral, Dark Plum, Perfect Pink

Next are these 3 Wonder Colour Lip Liners which I bought in the shades Hot Coral, Dark Plum and Perfect Pink. As soon as I saw these colours I could match them up to lipsticks I already own in my head (must. get. a. life.)  and knew I needed them all. Hot Coral matches so many of my orange and coral shades while Dark Plum is a pretty good match for Kate Moss' 107 (although it is a bit too purple but is unnoticeable once the lipstick is applied) and a few other dark shades I own while Perfect Pink is amazing for Kate Moss' 16. The lip liners are retractable which could be a problem seeing as I drop everything and the liner could break but, so far so good. I'd been looking for different coloured lip liners for a while but didn't want to pay a lot so I feel pretty blessed (urgh so dramatic) that I found 3 shades I really wanted. At £5.45 online I feel a bit torn as to whether I'd repurchase them as, even though all of the colours are perfect, the bargain hunter inside of me would want to find cheaper alternatives. These lip liners are going to be so handy and I'm just so happy that I got 3 for £1.50 which is less than one full priced.

Finally is the Professional Fan Powder Brush that I forgot to include; I've been using this brush every day since buying it and found it's perfect for applying highlighter as it's really precise and I can just touch it onto my cheekbones. I've experienced some shedding with this and I wouldn't have bought it at it's full price for £7.95 but for 50p it's amazing and better than I could have hoped for. It's made of goat hair which kind of creeps me out and I swear I could smell farm on it when I first opened the packaging but a quick wash sorted it out.

I wish I bought more things from the sale as I could have picked up some real bargains but I've been trying to not spend as much money so tried to get things I'd get the most use out of. Out of everything I purchased I would highly recommend the lip liners and the concealer kit while everything else is good but I could live without them. Oriflame have so many items available to buy on their website and it's worth checking them out however I've noticed that a lot of the swatch shades online don't match up to the colours in real life which could result in disappointment.