Soap & Glory Haul

I was first introduced to Soap & Glory by a much-older cousin, when I was in my awkward teenagery phase – cheeky slogan fan, parent-hating, too-cool-4-u, etc. Overall horrendous. But, said cousin got me a little slogan make up bag and it was indeed COOL. Soap & Glory is definitely still cool. COOL in caps, even. Pun-ny names and witty one-liners, pink packaging, vintage decos. It’s like Benefit on a budget, and better (if I daresay).

Up until last week I hadn’t ever used their make up; I have their “Clean On Me” shower stuff which I use every shower and is plain heavenly, and have previously used their bubble bath and shower gels and hand creams and that sponge loofah round thing that I still don’t know the name of. Basically I liked them and trusted their brand. And, actually, to be completely honest I didn’t know they even did make up! It wasn’t until a friend came to stay a couple weeks ago, and went, totally unprompted, on a huge spiel about how fantastic their Supercat eyeliner is that I discovered that yes, they do also do make up. Accessible make up, too! I bought mine online at Boots, with free in store collection, and they had a 3-for-2 promotion on. Super fab.

What did I buy?

1. Archery Brow Palette, £12. A brow compact with good sized mirror, two mini brushes (one double ended), and includes wax, highlighter, and brown and blonde brow powder.
2. It’s About Prime, £8. An eyelid primer, available in two colours. This was in the lighter shade, “Bright Light”.
3. Supercat Eyeliner Pen, £6. Your standard looking eyeliner pen, slim felt-tip style in black.

Here’s a closer look at the products and their packaging:

Brow Palette

This palette had the most riding on it: £12 is a lot for me to spend on something that I don’t reaaally need, and on a product that I haven’t test driven before. I was impressed by the design and the quality of the mirror. The brushes are useful, sure, but being so tiny makes them very fiddly – using this palette at home, I’d be more likely to use my own brushes. As a pencil and gel girl, this is my first brow powder purchase.

First up, I have to apologise for the bad skin ahh! I was just out of hospital and on enough medication to knock out a horse, and my body was having none of it.
So! First picture: I used the little brush to tease my eyebrow into a not-unattractive shape. Second: I brushed the wax through it. I was a bit confused because I thought the wax would be one of the final steps, but apparently not! I didn’t see much difference here, though the wax seemed to make my eyebrow look a little darker. Third: I brushed first the blonde powder across my brow, and only in the shape I wanted (ie not filling my brow in — it’s pretty unkept at the moment, though being so fair I like to think I can get away with it ..until it comes to filling them in!), and then used the brown powder to add some light definition.

I liked the powder, though not enough to revolutionise my current make up routine and give up my pencils. I think more practice with it definitely couldn’t hurt! I’m keen to give it another go, and I do have to say that it was a lot less messy than using a pencil, which tends to be quite a smudgey and layer-heavy process.

Primer

This was definitely a “must get 3-for-2 promotion” buy from me! I tend to use my Maybelline primer (baby skin instant pore remover) on my eyelids if I’m on a night out, but my naked3 palette is so fab that I don’t normally bother. Recently I have bought two W7 palettes though to try out colours, and I figured having a specialised primer would help keep these shorter-lasting and less pigmented eyeshadows vibrant.

I was really surprised by the intensity of colour, and was quite put off — but, though it goes on wet, it drys as a powder, and once dry you can smudge it. Smudging it was an “ahhh! I see!” moment. It goes pretty far; blended into my skin colour beautifully, leaving only a light silver sheen. Whilst I haven’t tested it out properly yet, I’m quite convinced it does something, as it did create a layer over my hand — half my hand is its usual softness, and the part with the primer on feels thicker somehow. No longer soft, though just as smooth, and almost a little bit rubbery (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I hasten to add). Having swatched this on the back of my hand, I’m now really keen to try it out on my lids.

Eyeliner

I have a couple eyeliner pens (see this review here) but hadn’t found a slimmer one that I liked, where I felt I could create those super sleek and narrow wings. After getting an award winning review from one of my best friends, I was also keen to try it!

The tip allows for varying thickness, which makes for a nice change. All photos show just one layer, not building it up or anything — so quite a solid black! The photo on the bottom left was my attempt to smudge it with a bare finger, and it really didn’t do anything, which really impressed me. It’s very not waterproof though! The bottom right photo is it after being rubbed with a wet finger. It washed off quite easily with warm water and rubbing.

This has become my go-to liner (I even used it here, when playing with my blue eyeshadow), and it’s definitely a product I’d recommend — particularly when compared to its high street counterparts.

Hope you found this helpful! Xx