To start off a week of look back at 2013 posts I thought I would firstly discuss the hit and miss beauty product trends of the last year... well in my opinion anyways. I'm talking products that have broke in to the beauty market with sometimes great success and ones that failed miserably.... lip tattoos anyone?
Hit
Lipstick/ Lip Balm Crayon Sticks
Probably one of the most popular makeup products of 2013 and a lipstick lovers dream. The success of lip balm sticks that just give a nice wash of colour and are so comfortable to wear has to be down to the Clinique Chubby Sticks and then the first high street version Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains. Every high has there own version now but what I love is they are all as good as each other pretty much - MUA and VIVO being the cheapest but still great!
Probably one of the most popular makeup products of 2013 and a lipstick lovers dream. The success of lip balm sticks that just give a nice wash of colour and are so comfortable to wear has to be down to the Clinique Chubby Sticks and then the first high street version Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains. Every high has there own version now but what I love is they are all as good as each other pretty much - MUA and VIVO being the cheapest but still great!
Nail Art False Nails
Nail Art products on the high street definitely came in to their own last year from nail art wheels to caviar and flocked nail art kits. But then came the clever idea of pre-done nail art false nails! Now I don't wear false nails however I still love the idea. I think this is a product range that will expand even more in 2014 as we really only have the fun House of Holland nail range and a nice selection from Primark. But this is definitely a trend that I can see staying around along with 3D nail art nail wraps.
Nail Art products on the high street definitely came in to their own last year from nail art wheels to caviar and flocked nail art kits. But then came the clever idea of pre-done nail art false nails! Now I don't wear false nails however I still love the idea. I think this is a product range that will expand even more in 2014 as we really only have the fun House of Holland nail range and a nice selection from Primark. But this is definitely a trend that I can see staying around along with 3D nail art nail wraps.
French Skincare
2013 was the year french skincare brands became accessible online and on the high street. I'm sure brands such as La Roche Posay, Caudalie and Bioderma saw a sharp rise in sales and rightly so as french skincare is pretty damn good. I feel my skincare routine could be getting a bit of an overhaul in the next few months and I'll be sure to include a lot of french brands in there.
2013 was the year french skincare brands became accessible online and on the high street. I'm sure brands such as La Roche Posay, Caudalie and Bioderma saw a sharp rise in sales and rightly so as french skincare is pretty damn good. I feel my skincare routine could be getting a bit of an overhaul in the next few months and I'll be sure to include a lot of french brands in there.
Affordable Makeup Brushes
After many years of love for MAC and Sigma brushes I feel the beauty world was given a key to an affordable alternative with Real Techniques brushes created by Samantha Chapman with every blogger raving about them! Along side this Models Own and Eco Tools brushes became more popular and I even discovered that good quality brushes can be found on eBay for under £3 per set (review post here). Excited to see more amazing brush collections from Real Techniques this year!
After many years of love for MAC and Sigma brushes I feel the beauty world was given a key to an affordable alternative with Real Techniques brushes created by Samantha Chapman with every blogger raving about them! Along side this Models Own and Eco Tools brushes became more popular and I even discovered that good quality brushes can be found on eBay for under £3 per set (review post here). Excited to see more amazing brush collections from Real Techniques this year!
Miss
CC Products
Where to start with this one really? I just don't know. Yes, we all finally got to grips with BB Creams as saw the benefits. But then came CC creams and we were all wondering how far up the alphabet beauty brands could go. CC basically stands for Colour Control or Colour Correcting cream which I just don't see in the CC creams I have tried out, yes they are good but to me they are a touch more brightening then BB creams. But my 'miss' isn't really with CC creams but with CC products... we now have CC lipsticks and hair care products which frankly make no sense at all and I just don't think anyone is buying it!
Where to start with this one really? I just don't know. Yes, we all finally got to grips with BB Creams as saw the benefits. But then came CC creams and we were all wondering how far up the alphabet beauty brands could go. CC basically stands for Colour Control or Colour Correcting cream which I just don't see in the CC creams I have tried out, yes they are good but to me they are a touch more brightening then BB creams. But my 'miss' isn't really with CC creams but with CC products... we now have CC lipsticks and hair care products which frankly make no sense at all and I just don't think anyone is buying it!
Aerosol Moisturiser & Sunscreen
When aerosol body care products started to pop up I thought what a good idea! I ditched my spray bottle of suncream for an easy to apply aerosol can and my normal body butter for a spray and go moisturiser. Yes very easy to use..... or should that be very easy to use up! My moisturiser lasted me 3 weeks if that and my suncream lasted me 6 of my 10 day holiday (the same size oil spray lasts me all through summer and more). Unfortunately this nifty and novel idea just makes no sense as clearly pressurised cans and heavy liquids just don't work as the product is used up in lightening speed.
When aerosol body care products started to pop up I thought what a good idea! I ditched my spray bottle of suncream for an easy to apply aerosol can and my normal body butter for a spray and go moisturiser. Yes very easy to use..... or should that be very easy to use up! My moisturiser lasted me 3 weeks if that and my suncream lasted me 6 of my 10 day holiday (the same size oil spray lasts me all through summer and more). Unfortunately this nifty and novel idea just makes no sense as clearly pressurised cans and heavy liquids just don't work as the product is used up in lightening speed.
Lip Tattoos
Yes, I know Jesse J originally made these 'popular' but I really do wonder how they even made there way onto the shelves of Boots and Superdrug as I have yet to see anyone wear lip tattoos, other than to review/show them on blogs. For blog research purposes only I actually tried a pair of lip tattoos out and it confirmed my suspicions - hard to apply, annoying feeling and down right ridiculous looking!
Yes, I know Jesse J originally made these 'popular' but I really do wonder how they even made there way onto the shelves of Boots and Superdrug as I have yet to see anyone wear lip tattoos, other than to review/show them on blogs. For blog research purposes only I actually tried a pair of lip tattoos out and it confirmed my suspicions - hard to apply, annoying feeling and down right ridiculous looking!
SLS-free shampoo on the High Street
As a religious user of SLS-free shampoos I loved that 2013 was the year that brands came out with more affordable and accessible SLS/nasties-free shampoos. But sadly most of them are awful quality and even though it pains me to say it I feel the quality of Naked shampoos have gone down hill as well. A good SLS-free shampoo should foam up well enough to cover the hair, washing it thoroughly and not overly tangle the hair but sadly very little shampoos live up to that on the hight steet - Timotei Organic Delight and Botanics being the main ones to avoid. However 2013 did see a range of SLS-free shampoos from L'Oreal Ever Riche which are amazing and there are nice SLS-free shampoos to be found in The Body Shop, so I can't overly complain.
As a religious user of SLS-free shampoos I loved that 2013 was the year that brands came out with more affordable and accessible SLS/nasties-free shampoos. But sadly most of them are awful quality and even though it pains me to say it I feel the quality of Naked shampoos have gone down hill as well. A good SLS-free shampoo should foam up well enough to cover the hair, washing it thoroughly and not overly tangle the hair but sadly very little shampoos live up to that on the hight steet - Timotei Organic Delight and Botanics being the main ones to avoid. However 2013 did see a range of SLS-free shampoos from L'Oreal Ever Riche which are amazing and there are nice SLS-free shampoos to be found in The Body Shop, so I can't overly complain.
Would love to hear if you have more to add to my Hit & Miss list or if you disagree with any!
Fee xo.
Fee xo.
