My top 5 budget buys for May

This month I’ve used a lot of new cheap and cheerful alternatives to my usual brands just to mix things up a bit and here are 5 of the best that I’ve tried!!!

1. Seventeen Wow Skin Concealer

I’m so impressed with this product honestly, it’s a really excellent product with an equally impressive price tag. It’s an under eye liquid concealer that comes in a handy pen style a la Touche Eclat. It comes in two colours, Fair and Medium, I used Fair which matched my skin tone perfectly. It blends beautifully and I found it really luminous and lightweight. There were no issues with it sitting in my “crows feet” even after being on for a number of hours. To be fair I wasn’t expecting too much from it considering the price but I’ve since replaced the concealer I normally use (Naked Skin from Urban Decay ) for my daytime makeup every day since I’ve discovered this one, high praise indeed trust me!!!! My opinion is it’s such an impressive product that I would comfortably use this as an every day concealer but probably stick to my more high end product for a night out or on a day where I needed to be guaranteed of it staying put.

Currently on sale in Boots for €6.99 and on 3 for 2 on selected 17 products too, absolutely worth a try!!!

2. PS Felt Eye Liner

Well I’ve raved about this on my Facebook page from the very first time I’ve tried it and I haven’t changed my mind since. It is absolutely awesome and is so so easy to use, in fact I would go so far as to say that it’s possibly the best product I’ve used yet to perfect a thin line and flick when doing winged liner. It is an absolute bargain but difficult to get your hands on because it’s swooped up as quick as it lands in stores and now having used it I understand why. This has also replaced my favourite liquid liner (Rimmel Exaggerate liquid liner) ever since the first time I’ve used it!! If I was to nit pick the only negative I can see about this product is that it is difficult to remove which could also be construed as a positive as you know it’s going to last but yah you do need a little bit of extra welly when you’re removing it to make sure it’s all gone.

On sale in Penneys  (if you can get your hands on it) for €2.00

3. Wet n Wild Coverall foundation

This is one of two products that I’ve used for longer than a month but I wanted to include them both because they’re both fantastic products and they’re both absolute bargains that deserve a mention!! I love this foundation so much,  I chanced my arm one day when I saw it in Penneys on the WetnWild stand and I needed a new foundation and boy am I glad I did!! Billed as a medium to full coverage foundation which I totally agree with, medium to begin with but absolutely buildable and I’m picky about coverage so if I say it covers, it covers but without being cakey and mask-like!! My skin is dry combination these days and I definitely think this foundation is more so for a drier skin as it does have a “satin finish” which I’m not sure a person with oilier skin would appreciate to be honest. I find it to be long lasting and feels lightweight on the skin, the only thing it doesn’t have is an SPF but to be fair considering the price of it that would be a lot to expect. Such fantastic value for money and I would highly recommend picking this up if you see it because I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you do.

I bought mine from the WetnWild stand in Penneys for €4.69

4. Catrice Glamourdoll Macara Ultra Back & Curl

At the end of last year I found out that the mascara I had used every day for the previous six years was going to be discontinued at the end of that December, cue me being absolutely disgusted and a little bit frantic as to what I was going to use now because I had loved that one so so much (It was Revlon’s Grow Luscious Mascara by the way for anyone who’s interested!!). I thought it would take me ages to find something I liked as much and began looking around to see what my options were. I’m not even joking when I say that the very first mascara I tried as a replacement was this Glamourdoll mascara from Catrice. I was stalking the make up stands in Penneys as per usual when I saw it, I was already a big fan of their liquid lipsticks so that’s what drew me to the stand to begin with but when I saw the brush on this mascara I knew I had to give it a go. I’m a huge fan of a curved brush as I love volume and curl because my eyelashes are already a decent length so lengthening isn’t something I’m all that interested in. Also the fact that it’s an extra black mascara was also a big thumbs up as I love my lashes to be as dark as possible. Just look at the curl on that wand…absolutely dreamy!! Long lasting and durable this mascara absolutely ticks all of the boxes for me, an absolute gem.

I bought mine in Penneys for €4.99

5. Collection Work the Colour Eyeshadow Pencil

Last but by no means least is this fab eyeshadow pencil that I picked up in Boots a few weeks ago in the shade Vanilla Sky. When I saw these pencils on the stand there were just two colours in stock that day, Vanilla Sky which I bought and a beautiful dusky pink colour called Vintage Blush but I’ve since found out that they come in six different colours in total. I really went back and forth between the Vanilla and the Blush colours as they were both so beautiful but Vanilla won out as I specifically wanted it for highlighting under the brow bone. Now I do love the gorgeous shimmery finish of this pencil but I don’t know if I’d use it all over the eye if I’m honest but it is absolutely stunning as a highlighter applied directly with your finger. I’d also give it a go on the cheeks as a highlighter or in the tear duct to brighten up the eye too. The reason I wouldn’t use it all over the eye is it would almost certainly crease on me but then again at 36 I’d love if you could show me a cream eyeshadow that wouldn’t!! Great value for money and a really handy one to keep in your makeup bag to add highlight to pretty much any eye look you can think of!!

I bought mine in Boots for €4.49