Danielle's Beauty Blog

I’ve got my best beauty discoveries series coming up this month starting with makeup today! These are not necessarily new products released in 2205 but that just happened to be the year I discovered them and fell in love! 

For base products, the Haus Labs Triclone Skin Tech Hydrating + De-puffing Concealer in shade 04 Fair Neutral RRP $45.50 CAD | £27 has become my go to concealer! It’s a great colour match for me and works well under the eyes and on blemishes or dark spots. It contains niacinamide to brighten, arnica to reduce the look of redness and hyaluronic acid to plump and hydrate. I love the packaging and the formula feels so hydrating and blends easily as well as offering good coverage!

I was sent the limited edition MERIT Archival Lip Essentials Gift Set in September and the Signature Lip Blush in Archival RRP $36 CAD* and Shade Slick Sheen in Archival RRP $33 CAD* have not left my lips since! The lip blush is a diffused soft matte in a cool mauve and the slick sheen is a sheer pearlescent lip oil in a cool mauve. The lip blush in particular is such a special formula! It feels lightweight, glides on so smoothly and doesn’t feel drying at all despite being a matte, the shade is beautiful and looks so natural but helps pull my makeup together! I haven’t worn a matte on my lips in forever but this is the perfect formula for me! Obsessed! I love adding the Slick Sheen over the top when I want my lips to look glossier and the combo gives me the perfect my lips but better shade! I hope they bring this shade to the permanent line!

Last year I managed to snag a $100 Rouge Reward so knew I had to pick up something luxurious! I decided on the Yves Saint Laurent All Hours 24H Hyper Sunkissed Glow Bronzer in Shade 2 Dune RRP $88 CAD | £48 and I’ve happily used it all year! I am obsessed with the packaging of this and the product inside isn’t bad either! It contains a little shimmer but to be honest I thought it was matte! The formula is smooth and blendable and leave my skin looking sunkissed and never orange or dirty!

The Tower 28 Beauty GetSet Blur + Set Matte Powder Blush in Long Beach Iced Tea RRP $32 CAD | £22 was my favourite blush I picked up last year and I definitely want to explore this brand a bit more! This is an earthy rosy pink shade with great colour payoff and buildable pigment. It helps smooth the look of texture and give my cheeks a healthy flush of long lasting colour! Need to get more shades!

Lastly, the Pixi Natural Brow Duo in Deep Brunette RRP $24 CAD | £15* has been a constant in my makeup bag for the last half of the year! I love the dual ended packaging and it’s so quick to use with the angled brow pencil which makes it easy to fill in any sparse sections of my brow then the gel to set them! The gel isn’t crispy and keeps my brows in place all day! 

Top to bottom: YSL bronzer in 2 Dune, Tower 28 blush in Long Beach Iced Tea, MERIT Signature Lip Blush in Archival and Shade Slick Sheen in Archival

I’d love to know your best makeup discoveries from the last year! Let me know if you have tried any of these as well!  

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

Danielle xx

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I was looking through some old draft posts not so long ago and found this one that I started a few years ago and never got round to posting! Ironically, one of the foundations I had reviewed is now discontinued and they have since brought out more new ones! Anyway, I thought I would still update and post this with my round up and review. The Pro Filt’r Soft Matte foundation was the first product from the brand that I tried in 2017 – and since then I have repurchased many times as well as fallen in love with a lot of their other products!

Starting with my favourite, the Fenty Beauty PRO FILT’R Soft Matte Longwear Foundation RRP $54 CAD | £34, this comes in 50 shades (I am shade 150) and is described as a soft matte longwear foundation that’s a buildable, medium to full coverage that fights heat, sweat and shine. Despite offering good coverage, it feels liquid-y and lightweight to me and does a great job of covering blemishes. I found that when my skin was a bit oilier than it is now this lasted for about 6 hours before I needed to powder again but now its more on the normal/combo side I don’t need it. It leaves my skin looking very perfected, doesn’t settle into fine lines, and lasts well. It doesn’t quite beat Estee Lauder Double Wear for me (I don’t think anything will) as I find it to just last a little longer on my skin but it’s a really nice alternative for when I want something different and the finish is beautiful! The price has creeped up steadily since I first got this like with all cosmetics unfortunately so I would definitely wait for a 20% off offer and take advantage! See my full review here!

I picked up the Fenty Beauty Eaze Drops Blurring Skin Tint RRP $49 CAD | £29 (shade 2) when my skin cleared up after Roaccutane as I wanted to try a lighter coverage base. These are a pretty big departure from my normal full coverage foundation buys as they have such light coverage! Coming in 25 shades that again correspond to your shade match in the foundations, this is a tinted moisturiser that evens out skin tone and offers a no makeup makeup look! It says they are buildable light to medium but I would say these are definitely on the light side of coverage especially if you are used to full foundation. However, these are so perfecting and really do blur the skin and even out my complexion and with the rest of my makeup on top I am super happy with the coverage they give! They have been a welcome addition to my makeup bag especially for weekends when I don’t have any major plans but still want some coverage and I use this base a lot when I go hiking as it wears well when I sweat. They last all day on my skin and don’t settle into fine lines and the shade 2 is perfect for my fair skin and maybe just a touch lighter than the 150 shade I am in the Soft Matte foundation! 

The Fenty Beauty PRO FILT’R Hydrating foundation (shade 150) has since been discontinued and replaced with the Soft’Lit Naturally Luminous Hydrating Longwear Foundation which I haven’t tried. Since I was already a fan of the matte foundation, when I was on Roaccutane, I picked up the sister hydrating version. Again, it ahd 50 shades that correspond with the matte version, and offered the same buildable full to medium coverage this time with a natural finish rather than matte and it was geared more to normal/dry skin types. This really brought the glow to my skin while it was its driest and I know I would have hated it had my skin been oily! Even with powder it never completely “set” for me so there is a tendency for some transfer though I wouldn’t say it wore off easily either. While my skin was normal/dry this lasted through the day for me and made me look so healthy and dewy however it wouldn’t have been a repurchase for me as like I mentioned, my skin is more normal/combo now and I can imagine it would wear off more! So, you could say I am glad they discontinued this one and not the Soft Matte!

Overall, the Soft Matte foundation is my favourite and the Eaze Drops have pleasantly surprised me! I have already repurchased the Soft Matte multiple times!

Have you tried any Fenty foundations? Let me know what you thought!

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

Danielle xx

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MERIT contacted me a couple of months ago to ask if I’d like to try their eye set and after hearing such good things about their line it was a no brainer! To give a short introduction, MERIT is a clean, vegan, cruelty free and luxury beauty brand inspired by minimalism. They were founded by Katherine Power (also the founder of Versed) in 2021 and are based out of Los Angeles, California with the products being made in the U.S., South Korea, China and Italy. I received The Eye Set* which includes everything in this post and retails for $129 CAD | £102 | £94 USD. You also get the signature bag with your first order! 

The Eye Set includes the Solo Shadow in Vachetta ($33 CAD | £26 | £24 USD individually). This is a single, cream to powder eye shadow with a matte formula in a beautiful neutral shade with Vachetta being described as a warm beige. The formula can be applied either with your finger or a brush and the Brush No.2 ($27 CAD | £22 | $20 USD individually) is the perfect size, soft (vegan bristles) and dual ended so great for applying all over the lid or lash lining. The shadow itself is buildable so you can blend it out more to have a subtle hint of colour or add more drama if you layer it. It’s nicely pigmented and very easy to blend and hasn’t caused me any irritation and is safe for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers! I will say though that I have very oily lids so there is not much colour left on mine by the end of the day whether I use a primer or not. In its defence, it fades very evenly but it’s not quite as longwearing as I was hoping for or expecting! 

MERIT Solo Shadow in Vachetta (unedited)

Moving to brows next and the Brow 1980 Volumizing Pomade ($33 CAD | £26 | $24 USD individually) has fit into my brow routine very nicely. I find when I keep on top of dying my brows I don’t need to pay so much time in the morning ‘doing them’ so this has been perfect to quickly brush through to fill any sparce gaps and give some volume and hold! I have the shade brown and it leaves my brows looking natural yet groomed and the formula isn’t flaky or crispy. There is only 2.4g of product though so this one definitely feels pricier than the other products based on that!

Lastly, and in my opinion the star of the show – the Clean Lash Lengthening Mascara ($36 CAD | £28 | $26 USD individually). This is a tubing mascara and oh my god have I been missing out. I have watery eyes and usually go for waterproof mascaras which still usually smudge halfway through the day. Not with this! The bristles make it easy to coat my lashes and it works well to lengthen. There are no clumps or flakes and definitely no smudging as the day goes on! Although this doesn’t give as much volume as some mascaras, I am a convert! I took this on my recent holiday to Mexico too and like I said, I am so impressed by the zero smudging or flaking! I still use my usual Nivea bi-phase eye makeup remover with this which works great!

Let’s also take a minute to talk about the packaging – I am in love! It feels weighty and so luxurious, I love the black and gold! The Solo Shadow also has a very satisfying extra click to it to make sure you have screwed it closed tightly enough. These are on the pricier side and I was hoping for a little more lasting power with the Solo Shadow but there is no doubt these are beautiful products and I will definitely be taking a look at their blush and lip oil next! 

Have you tried MERIT before? Or what’s on your wish list?

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

Danielle xx

If you want to keep up to date with my posts, don’t forget to follow me on

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After last week’s best skincare discoveries of 2022, this week it’s the turn of my favourite makeup discoveries! Some of these I bought towards the end of 2021 but as always, it takes me so long to actually use them, it was 2022 before they came into their own! It’s always risky buying without having seen or swatched the product in person but I did my research and also got lucky as everything I’m talking about today, I bought this way!

Starting with bronzers and the Victoria Beckham Matte Bronzing Brick in 02 Soleil | Honey RRP £52 has easily made its way to the top of my favourite bronzer list. This is a weighty compact with a matte duo inside and it has the perfect amount of pigmentation. I mix the two together and it blends like a dream, instantly adds a natural warmth to my face without any patchiness and it lasts all day with no fading. The only thing that annoys me about it is the packaging which has a tendency to pop open, and it can be quite difficult to close but I’ll forgive it because it has such a beautiful formula!

Sticking with bronzers and a very close second is the Dior Forever Natural Bronze in 04 Tan Bronze RRP £41. Like the VB, this has just the right amount of pigmentation and isn’t powdery at all. The packaging is lighter than the VB so easier to travel with and I would say I prefer the shade of the VB just a touch as I can customise it but I reach for this so much too!  

Onto foundation now, and the NARS Light Reflecting Foundation in Gobi RRP £37.50 was a standout for me this year! It has a thin consistency but offers medium coverage, feels lightweight on the skin and is easily buildable, and leaves a very perfecting base. The formula is a mix of makeup and skincare and supposedly helps improve skins clarity and texture over time and I have been impressed with how long this wears on my skin! I haven’t found it to separate, and it’s been lasting a full day on my normal/combo skin! My skin looks more luminous when I use this, it covers minor imperfections well and gives me a healthy glow! Definitely my favourite NARS foundation out of the three I have tried! See my full review here!

Lip products next and I have a few to share! The first being the Dior Addict Lip Glow in 012 Rosewood RRP £30 and it was definitely a case of Instagram made me buy it but I’m glad I did! Tinted lip balms are my jam and this is definitely the fanciest one I own! Aside from beautiful packaging, the product inside is a lovely "my lips but better" sheer rosy nude shade. It's infused with colour-reviver technology that adapts to the pH level of lips to reveal a custom glow which was why I specifically didn’t go with the original pink shade as pH lip products tend to go bright pink on me! Rosewood is perfect though and the formula is beautiful, it lasts on my lips for a good few hours before I feel the need to reapply!

The Clarins Lip Comfort Oil in 01 Honey RRP £21.50 has featured on the blog before in mini form, but I loved it so much I had to get a full size! It feels silky and not sticky at all while lasting a surprisingly long time on my lips keeping them comfortable and hydrated for hours. It gives a beautiful shine, contains omega 6 and 9, rose oil and jojoba oil and comes in a bunch of shades and I just got the Christmas mini 4 pack to try some more shades too! 

Lastly, in the lip category I have the Hourglass Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm in Slip RRP £28. Not my favourite packaging mechanism (you can’t wind the product back down) but the product itself is beautiful! These are super glossy but not sticky and the colour is buildable. Again, they last quite a while on my lips and while I don’t find the plumping/volumizing aspect too much, they do make my lips look fuller! Would definitely consider picking up a few more shades if I saw these on offer again! 

I purchased a few blushes this year but way out in front is the Pat McGrath Skin Fetish: Divine Blush in Divine Rose RRP £30. This is described as a cool mauve rose demi matte and I honestly think this might be my favourite blush in my collection. As well as having the most beautiful imprint, I love the shade (I tend to prefer matte products), the pigmentation is perfect, it’s easily blendable, looks so natural and it has great lasting powder. I also have the shade Nymphette which I like but I love this one! Really want to try the blush duos too!

Finally, the Pat McGrath Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Blurring Under Eye Powder in Light RRP £25 has really impressed me. This is so lightweight yet it sets my under eye so it never looks powdery or dry. It’s so finely milled and blurring and barely detectable!

And that’s my 2022 best makeup discoveries! I bought everything here when it was on sale or the website had a good offer running as I hate paying full price! These are all pricey items so definitely shop around or wait until you see a good deal if you are planning a splurge and want to save some money! Do you see any of your favoruites? Let me know what makeup products stood out to you this year!

See my best makeup discoveries of 2021 here!

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.  

See my full disclosure here.

Danielle xx

If you want to keep up to date with my posts, don’t forget to follow me on

Bloglovin | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter