Surratt Beauty Review

Most people who are obsessed with or work in the fashion and beauty industry would have heard of the name Surratt, Troy Surratt to be exact. Around 6 years ago, he launched his own makeup line but worked his way up from working on a counter to owning his own brand, which is where he is at now. Surratt was also famously mentored by the amazing Kevyn Aucoin before he sadly died in 2002.

Surratt Beauty products are classy, timeless and best-known for being customisable, refillable and just practical. They’re not cheap, but you’re certainly paying for the quality with his products being produced in Japan. He admits this wasn’t an easy process due to the Japanese beauty industry being very “elusive” but eventually with dedication, regular trips, and many gifts exchanged, he launched the brand.

Until recently, you could buy Surratt on Cult Beauty, Beautylish, Liberty London and Net-a-Porter but now it’s available in Space NK; in a few selected stores and online. With new beauty products, it is important to see it in person, and test it on yourself as colours often look much different online vs. in reality. I recently went to the Space NK store on Kings Road/ Duke of York Square to see his products for myself. Though the collection was small, I felt like there was a lot to see and play with. The blush and eyeshadow colours are all so wearable and the formula itself is beautiful. The helpful sales assistant told me that the blush is safe enough to wear on the eyes as well as face and showed me customisable palettes; the Grande palette £24 or Petite palette £20.

The Palettes

The palettes are cleverly designed with the Grande size able to fit: 3 blushers, or 2 blushers with 2 eyeshadows, or 1 blusher with 4 eyeshadows or 6 eyeshadows. The Petite palette can fit: 2 blushers, or 1 blush and 2 eyeshadows or 4 eyeshadows. Though both palettes appear tiny, they fit a lot of product and are perfectly compact for travel.

The Blush

I decided to purchase 2 blushers and 1 contour colour for travel; although there were options for highlighters, therefore you could have a full set of one blush, one contour and one highlight shade. The blusher pictured in the middle “Duchesse” was apparently created by Surratt for Adele as he struggled to find a tone for her pale complexion. He decided to name it “Duchesse” in reference to the nickname he gave her as he always called her “the Duchess of England” - clearly a private joke :)

The formula is super creamy and applied beautifully to the skin. Though some of the blush tones in his collection seem a lot more ‘POP-ier’, I think the formula is very blendable and buildable meaning you don’t have to be scared off by some of his brighter colours. Again at £30 per blush, it isn’t cheap but you will certainly feel a difference in quality of formula and powders do tend to last ages! I love the formula so much so, that I will definitely be looking to purchase more colours in the near future.

Swatches of the blushers: (L-R) Duchesse, Cherubique and Grisaille

I think the palettes should be a lot cheaper, and aren’t worth the price tags of £24 snd £20. The problem is, if you want a customisable palette, you have to buy the Surratt versions otherwise it won’t fit anywhere else. The blush and eyeshadow pans are not magnetised either therefore if you were to accidentally open the palette upside down, the products would all fall out. These are my only criticisms of the palettes.

The Eyelash Curler

I purchased the eyelash curler which I’ve heard rave reviews about and is also award-winning. Some people think an eyelash curler is an eyelash curler, but it really isn’t. Firstly, you’re using it to clamp down on your lashes, close to your eyeball and therefore you want it to be gentle. Secondly, though you don’t want to damage your lashes , you do want it to do a good job of curling. We don’t ask for much do we?

Surratt Beauty Eyelash Curlers

Due to it’s silicone bouncy pads, you don’t need to press so hard, creating a natural lift as opposed to a crimped curl. At £32 it isn’t cheap and yes, you could get a curler at Boots for a fraction of the price but really, it’s like comparing the Ritz and Travelodge. ‘Nuff said. My only criticism is the unnecessary packaging which reminded me of ‘pass the parcel’ - but it comes with a little suede bag (perfect for travel) and an extra silicone pad.

(T-B) La Baton Rouge & Smoky Eye Baton

(T-B) Smoky Eye Baton in Fumee Brun and La Baton Rouge in Quaintrelle

Lastly, I also purchased the La Baton Rouge (fancy lip liner/ lipstick combo) in Quaintrelle £36 and Smoky Eye Baton (eye liner/ smoky eyeshadow) in Fumee Brun £34. With the swatches shown above, the top swatch is just the liner itself, the second is liner with the powder. The third swatch is Quaintrelle lip pencil on it’s own, fourth swatch is liner with powder and the last swatch is just the lip powder alone.

The Smoky Eye Baton

The Smoky Eye Baton or SEB as I shall call it, is supposed to be a multipurpose product, as is the case with most of his collection. With the SEB, you can use the eyeliner on one end to do your standard liner, or smudge it with the sponge tip on the other end. The liner is a cool dark brown tone, and the powder is a slightly lighter brown shade with subtle shimmer. The idea is that you can create a smoky eye look with it, hence the product name. After wearing it, I can safely say that it smudges like a b.i.t.c.h. It’s the kind of eyeliner that will smudge if you blink, if you close your eyes, if you don’t, or even if you just breathe. If you want a long wearing liner (can’t criticise, as this doesn’t promise to be one), don’t get this. If you like that smudgy, rock-chick vibe, this will be perfect for you.

La Baton Rouge

The La Baton Rouge or LBR similarly to the SEB has two ends, one with the liner/ lipstick and the other with the sponge tip lip powder. The liner can be used as a lip colour as it has a shiny finish and therefore glides on the skin, as opposed to traditional matte lip pencils which can tend to drag. You can wear the lip colour on it’s own or add the powder which not only (a) intensifies/ deepens the colour but (b) mattifies it. It’s a clever idea and I really like the idea of this product, which is perfect for “day-to-night” transformations and travel as it’s multipurpose. e.g. you could use the lip colour on the cheeks too as it’s hydrating enough. My own criticism would be that, if you were to use it like a lipstick, the product would run out pretty quickly and it’s not cheap at £36 a piece. They should make the product refillable like his liquid eyeliners.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I would recommend Surratt for high quality products, made in Japan, with the majority of his products being worth the high price tag. I think however, the palettes are unfairly priced and that all lip/ eye pencils or “stylos” as the brand calls it, should be refillable. If a brand is going to market themselves as ‘up there’ in terms of price tag and the type of clientele they want, then I strongly believe the quality of the products should deliver too and be perfect. Go big or go home!

Until next time xo

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All pictures on this post are my own, with exception of the thumbnail image - courtesy of the Surratt Beauty website.