INSTA GIRL - Photo Ready Makeup by Primark

I have been shopping in Primark for many years, usually picking up basics for my wardrobe and fashion pieces which I don't really want to invest in because they will be a passing fad. It's never sad when a piece of clothing from Primark breaks or fluffs up because it never was an investment - you almost expect the pieces to have an average age of a year.
But as much as I was a fan of Primark clothes, I stayed away from their makeup - there's something about £1 foundation that I just didn't trust, especially as my skin is super sensitive. My local Primark started to introduce makeup slowly, stocking more and more as the years went on - and the last time I visited about a week ago, they have a whole section dedicated to beauty.

I first saw their Insta Girl collection of cosmetics on London Beauty Queen Instagram photo and the collection looked so pretty that I really wanted to check it out. So off I went to Primark in search of the Insta Girl makeup collection - and got dragged into the world of Primark beauty.

All makeup snobbery aside, I am very fortunate to work with some of the worlds leading skincare and makeup brands through my blog - one of the perks is that I get to use products before I write about them, so my face has been well kept for the last 5 years. Which is why I think sometimes when it comes to buying on a budget, I will make sure that my face is what gets the splurges and my body can deal with bargain products. But I forget that brands like Primark (and Collection who I actually love!) have built their reputation being a bargain brand - this also reflects in their makeup prices. When they first started I remember everything was like £1 or £2, but now the makeup ranges from pennies to £4.

I found the Insta Girl makeup range - and although there were some products I wanted which weren't in stock in this store, I still had to pick up some of the products because they looked really good. Spoiler alert: I got over my makeup snobbery. I was also on the hunt for some makeup items which I decide to stock up in Primark - because why wouldn't you when a whole lotta makeup is going to cost you around £10?!

I wanted to share with you my bargain Primark makeup finds and discuss - are the products any good when it comes to quality?

I was on the lookout for lip pencils - but being a freelancer some months simply don't allow me to financially splurge. Another spoiler alert: when you become freelance and embrace the whole #girlboss life, the millions don't come rolling in after 24hrs of you declaring you are now your own boss. So I have decided to postpone the lip pencils until another time - until I saw these babies in Primark. For £1.50, you can't really go wrong with playing with colours - so I picked up three new lip pencils which looked like the colours I have been browsing for!

I absolutely loved using the lip pencils - they are soft, precise, the colours are stunning AND they lasted me for hours. Really impressed with the fact they genuinely don't smudge that much, even when you eat a meal. Not sure how 'kiss proof' these are, but I'll keep you updated!

I also picked up an Insta Girl Intense Liquid Lipstick in a colour which Kylie Jenner would approve of (not that I care because SHOCK I actually don't like the Kardashian/Jenner clan) - it's a grey matte colour which looks great on Instasnaps. When it comes to real life, it's not a colour I would wear all the time but for evenings out. However I did love how the liquid lipstick applied, the matte finish and the longevity of the product. Thumbs up Primark, I will be back to get colours which look a tad bit more natural!

The Insta Girl Flash Photo Powder promises to reflect light for photo ready skin - it's a translucent powder which can be used by all skin types and shades. This came at a perfect time because I didn't realise that my own powder was running out. The powder has a nice finish, and it contains light reflecting particles which do bounce off light - making you skin glow and look great in photos. This powder costs around £2 - so if you want to give it a go, it really won't break the bank!

Now what kind of Instagram inspired collection doesn't have some form of marble effect within it? The Insta Queen nails have a beautiful grey marble design with a gold band, and alternative grey nails which come with adhesive. I was really excited about these nails - the Primark false nails cost £1-£2 which is a massive saving on most false nails. They were easy to apply, however it took me a while to match the nails to my fingers - but once they were on they looked pretty damn good. I used the nails for an evening meal out and they lasted - but the next day, several nails unstuck and broke when I was doing simple tasks like washing up my plate after using it. So as far as these nails go, they don't last 7 days as advertised - unless you are sleeping beauty and all you do is lay there for 7 days. But for a functioning human being, these nails will last you a night out. As beautiful as they are, I may be repurchasing them for photoshoots/events but the next day they are coming off - whether I like it or not!

Now the last product I wanted to tell you about is this Get Lippy Kit in Cookie Dough from the Matte Collection. I have been dying for a lip kit which I saw online which cost about £30 - and at the time I just couldn't justify spending £30 on a lipgloss and pencil combo. So when I saw this in Primark for £3, I decided that it will just have to do. Little did I know that this lip kit is actually brilliant! We have already established that the pencils and liquid lipsticks from Primark are fantastic, but this colour is just beautiful. I think it will look great with a tan this summer, I absolutely cannot wait to use this when I'm a little more bronzed.
The best thing about this lip kit is how long it lasts - last weekend I went to COSMO in Southampton for a family meal, and anyone who has been to COSMO knows it's a several plates of food kind of affair. The colour not only didn't smudge when I was eating/drinking, but also stayed on for pretty much the whole evening.

So the Primark beauty collection gets a massive thumbs up from me! That will teach me not to judge a foundation by it's price - 90% of the items I have picked up from Primark delivered more than I was expecting from them. I'm excited to go back and pick up some more lip colours - well done Primark, you've done it again!