These last few weeks see plenty of new launches over on the Beauty Crowd website, but the two that have caught my eye the most are Bell Cosmetics & Freedom Makeup (more on Freedom on Sunday), with both brands offering affordable makeup with a difference. Introducing Bell Cosmetics; they are a Polish company that was founded over 30 years ago and have just recently launches their own hypoallergenic line of makeup in the UK (exclusive to Beauty Crowd). They want to bring affordable makeup to people with sensitive skin so the masses have access to makeup that’s kind to their skin. The range consists of all the products you need to make up your face; foundation, primer, eyeshadows, etc.
After trying out a few of the products from the range over the last couple of weeks I have fallen for quite a few of them; they remind me slightly of the ELF products but better quality & more inline with high-street brands like Bourjois and L’oreal. The stand out of the bits I have tried so far has to be the Matte & Smooth Makeup Base (£7.95), which isn’t actually that matte (this pleased me greatly). This unscented formula goes on so smoothly and almost feels like silk on the skin once applied and dried. This left my skin looking smoother, brighter and although it felt hydrating when applying it, it left a ‘normal’ feel behind, and by ‘normal’ I mean neither matte nor dewy. When I first applied this I used a whole pump of it, which in hindsight was way too much as only half a pump is needed to fully cover the entire face and onto the neck area. I have truly fallen for this and use it most mornings in place of my Keihls Micro-Blur Primer (I am saving that for ‘special occasions’ now), you know it’s a good product when it can replace one 3 times its price in your daily routine.
Now introducing Bell Cosmetics Matte & Soft Foundation (£7.95) which comes in 3 shades (I hope this will be being added to at some point) and was actually a little life saver for me as I got the middle shade which is perfect for my slightly tanned skin at the moment. The coverage is light-medium and does take some building up over blemishes, but it’s lightweight and feels so airy on the skin that it makes it perfect for summer or holidays, think a BB/CC cream with more coverage. Paired with the Bell Liquid Eye Concealer (£3.95) and my skin looks quite vibrant without looking greasy/overly dewy for under £4.00 this concealer is a great find.
Now onto some products that didn’t wow me quite as much, which doesn’t mean they are bad it’s just that I didn’t fall quite so much for them for different picky reasons. The Matte Powder (£4.95) comes in 4 shades and a lovely sturdy compact (and I love the printed powder), but it doesn’t come in translucent which is what I use, so a pigmented powder is something new for me and not something I would be likely to use much. Saying that the powder is pretty good and lightweight, not cakey and lasts well into the afternoon after being applied at 7am. If they ever bring this out in translucent I am gonna be ALL OVER IT. Finally the Thickening Mascara (£4.95) is a brilliant product if you prefer a wetter formula for your mascaras, which I don’t as I cannot be trusted not to get it all over my lids and brows. This offers fairly good length for a product that’s aimed at thickening, decent curl hold and lasts without flaking until I get home from work, but unfortunately I just cannot get over the wetter formula… Hopefully this will dry out over the coming weeks and will become one of my go to mascaras on a daily basis (pray for me and my mascara).
For the price range this is a seriously good launch range and I can’t wait to see if they add any more items/shades to the line-up. Have you seen them on Beauty Crowd yet? Tempted by any of the items?
*PR Sample
