Hello Beauty Bay Haul: My Honest & In-depth Review
If you love beauty products, and are as obsessed as I am, you will have certainly heard about BeautyBay.com. Beauty Bay is a UK company which began in 1999 by selling luxury fragrances online. Soon after, their repertoire expanded to include skincare and makeup brands, especially US brands that are difficult to get our hands on in the UK. Brands that aren’t stocked here include Wet N Wild, Dose of Colours, Linda Hallberg, Jeffree Star Cosmetics (only recently in Morphe Stratford), Makeup Geek and more.
My friends know that I am a serious beauty junkie - many are saying ‘um hm’ as they read this - and if there was an AA equivalent for beauty, I would be the founding member. I imagine the scene would go along the lines of “Hi everyone, my name is Deborah and I am a makeup addict”, whilst fellow makeup junkies whoop and cheer me on…
As a result of this, I frequently do a ‘spring-clean’ of beauty products, getting rid of the “old” and topping up with new products. I’m not a “returner” meaning if I buy something, I am highly unlikely to return it especially when it comes to beauty products. If I try something out and realise it’s not for me, because I hate the scent, the colour isn’t right for me or whatever the crazy reason may be, I just end up giving it away to someone else as it can always be re-homed. My makeup station is a joke and if I walked to the town hall today, I think I could legitimately apply to open a small makeup business from the comfort of my own home!
Back to Beauty Bay, I’ve purchased from them before but this time around, I specifically visited the site to purchase and try out Linda Hallberg’s makeup line. She is a Swedish Makeup Artist (MUA) and Youtube sensation who started her own makeup line after gathering a decent following. Normally I am super sceptical about ‘influencers’ who decide to create their own makeup line because as we all know, just because you have a large platform, doesn’t mean you are instantly a beauty expert, right? Cough - Laura Lee.
The difference with Linda Hallberg is that she is also a trained MUA which I think is essential when creating beauty products. You need to know the industry, have experience of applying makeup on different faces, and know what your audience wants. It’s not good enough to create a template beauty product, that’s ‘kinda been seen and done before’ and then to just have your name slapped across the packaging YAWN. These days, the beauty consumers are much more spoilt for choice, vocal and know what we want.
I wanted to try Linda Hallberg’s Metallic Mysteries II palette and the set of Flash Crayons. Of course, when you go onto a site like this, it is extremely difficult just to add the items you and want, pay and leave. Normally, my first thought is “what else do I need?” In truth, the answer is nothing but that’s boring. So from 2 products, I soon found my virtual basket bursting with 7 items but I will explain my thought processes to you, because in my mind it was completely logical.
After LH’s x2 items, I thought “it would be nice to try a drugstore highlighter” (more on that later) - even though I currently own around 8 highlighters! This immediately led onto “it is only appropriate I use the correct tool for the highlight, to really do it justice”, after which I was reminded that I needed a top up of my favourite brush cleaning spray x2. When I thought about brush hairs, it made me think of my own brow hairs and how they need to be plucked, which then reminded me that I need new tweezers - in rose gold obviously - which is how the 7 items came about… My name is Deborah and I am a beauty addict.
Here is a much more detailed and thorough review on the products I’ve previously bought and loved, and some new exciting additions:
I remember previously watching a Jeffree Star Youtube video on drugstore highlighters where he recommended Wet N Wild, which was dirt cheap and looked blinding. I remember feeling disappointed thinking I wouldn’t be able to obtain one until I travelled back to the US but thanks to Beauty Bay, I was wrong! I purchased the Megaglo Highlighting Powder in ‘E321B Precious Petals’ which I think is perfect for my skin tone. After swatching one time, the pigment was crazy and in the words of Jeffree Star truly “sickening” - for those who don’t follow him, this is a compliment. What impressed me about this highlighter is that it firstly cost me a mere £3.75 and secondly, how versatile it is. Depending on what brush you use, you could create an intense highlight (this product is more on the intense side, rather than natural) or use a loose powder type brush for a more diffused natural finish. If you use your fingers, it almost creates a ‘wet’ look. At this moment in time, one of my favourite highlighting powders has to be the Burberry Fresh Glow Highlighter but at £45, it is quite a jump from £3.75. The Wet N Wild highlighter is slightly chalkier compared to the Burberry one but if you are looking for an intense highlighter that doesn’t break the bank, you can apply quickly and travel with, the Wet N Wild one is a winner.
There’s not a lot to mention except that currently the Beauty Blender Instaclean brush (and sponge) cleaning spray is my favourite. I’ve tried a few from different brands but I either hate the formula, the scent or both. This is quick and easy to use when you want to quickly clean your brushes in between uses, but of course I’d always recommend you do a deep clean now and again. The worst is when women don't think they need to clean their brushes, and then a crusty layer forms around the bristles of the brush, encouraging the production of bacteria and all sorts of nasty shit on the face. The best way I would recommend using this product is to spray it directly onto a sheet of kitchen towel and then rub your brush(es) gently into the spot. Use a separate sheet to get the excess product and oils off. For £15 and 70ml, you don’t get a lot of product which is why it runs out quickly, and the only downfall of using this product. I previously used to love the Bobbi Brown brush cleaning spray but they stupidly discontinued it and I haven’t seen it since!
If you’re into beauty, again you will have heard about, and most likely own a brush (or two) from Zoeva. The business began by solely selling brushes but in more recent times, makeup such as eyeshadow palettes. Zoeva are primarily known for it’s good quality but decently priced synthetic brushes. If you’re a makeup artist who is starting out or want to add one or two non-expensive but good quality brushes into your existing collection, Zoeva is a great place to start. I purchased the 114 Luxe Face Focus Brush at £13.
Ps. It applied my highlight perfectly!
I already own Tweezerman tweezers but after a while, I do feel they become slightly less effective due to becoming blunt. I purchased the Rose Gold Slant Tweezers which at £22.50 are not cheap but honestly, they are one of the best tweezers I’ve ever used and there is no way I’d change to another brand, unless someone managed to invent tweezers that magically pluck my brows for me whilst I continue to apply makeup. Highly unlikely but you never know….!
More importantly, onto the Linda Hallberg products…. I purchased the Flash Crayons Rustic Kit £47 which is a set of 5 eyeshadow pencils in metallic shades. Though £47 sounds steep for any makeup pencils, it works out to £9.40 per pencil which is actually very reasonable. The real test however would be in how the pencils apply, the colour payment and lastly the longevity. Let’s start with the application, which was so smooth and there was no ‘give’ if you know what I mean? The pencils felt so soft and creamy, that I felt I had to be quite light-handed in application otherwise I could have easily broken the tip. The pigment is unreal, and I didn’t have to press down at all, in order to achieve the vibrant colours seen in the picture above. There is no filter and the picture was taken in sunlight, so that you could see an accurate representation of the colours. What I love about this set is that it is all so wearable. I believe Linda Hallberg encourages her audience to play with makeup and there being no rules, which applies to her pencils as she encourages her audience to wear them on the lips or as eyeshadows if they wish to. After a minute or so, I rubbed the area where I had applied the liners and even with pressure, it barely rubbed off meaning it has good wear test and longevity.
Last but certainly not least, the ‘pièce de résistance’, Metallic Mysteries II eyeshadow palette £50 for four shades. I chose this palette over her over palettes, as I wanted one that was versatile and that I could pair nicely with some of my other existing eye makeup products. The pigment payoff was again, unbelievable and felt incredibly creamy. It always makes me laugh when Youtubers try to do “live” swatches (especially when its their own palette), and you can often see them struggling to make it look pigmented; it literally just ends up looking like a sad and sorry streak of poo. This eyeshadow formula is incredible and you would literally only need to swipe once for each each. I can’t wait to experiment by using the product wet as I think it will just further intensify the colour and shimmer. The colour Collision was my absolute bae, there is something really sexy about it and you could even wear it as a fun glittery highlighter, should your heart desire. Since it is Chinese New Year, I am really feeling Arcturus and will wear that tomorrow at the CNY parade! I now can’t wait to buy her other palettes considering how beautiful and top quality this palette this! Insert heart eyes emoji.
Until next time xo
