If you frequent Home Bargains, you will probably have noticed their Olivia Hale makeup collection, and probably, quite possibly, also walked straight past it. In my local Home Bargains, there aren't many products to choose from, and they all look battered and beaten, resembling TK Maxx's beauty section. However, I recently went out of town and visited a much larger store, and they had a beautiful selection of the Olivia Hale makeup range, so I picked a few bits up to try out.
I must confess, I have lost my receipt, however most items were 99p and I think maybe the Highlighter Palette was £1.99. Either way, they were all a bit of a bargain. Starting with the Olivia Hale Primer, you get 35ml, which is a very generous size, and the packaging is black and gold and pretty darn sleek. It has a pointed applicator and so it is easy to get the product out, without getting too much out. The Primer contains Dimethicone, which is in a lot of blurring and smoothing primers, and this one does a great job of smoothing the skin and giving it that velvety soft touch, which in turn helps your foundation to apply much smoother too. I don't find it particularly moisturising, but as long as you apply moisturiser in a morning as part of your daily skincare routine, then you shouldn't need a moisturising primer. I was definitely impressed with the results of the Primer. Well worth 99p, and more!
I then picked up the Olivia Hale Concealer Palette, and I chose number 1, which I believe is the lightest shade range, and in all honesty I am not sure what other shade palettes there was. This concealer palette holds four good-sized concealer pans, and features a fair shade, a light shade, a peach shade and a more yellow-toned shade, so you could even colour correct with this too. The two lighter shades are pretty terrible to be honest, they come out more or less white, and there is very little pigment there. However, the peach and the warmer shade are actually really nice, and the formula isn't too thick either, so you don't get any creasing throughout the day. A 50/50 product for me, but for 99p, it is worth buying the palette, even if you don't use two of the shades.
We then have the Olivia Hale Highlighter Palette, which I believe was £1.99. I couldn't see any other colour options in store, so this is the one I went for. The colours tend to look darker in the pans than the do on the skin, but for me that is great as I was thinking they all might be too dark for my light skin tone. The pink shade is iridescent and it makes a very pretty blush, and the top left highlighter is also iridescent, and gives the most intense highlighter action! The bottom two shades are too dark for me, however the colours and pigments make the most stunning eyeshadow shades - I haven't seen pigment like this in a long time - and certainly not in a £1.99 palette. If you have lighter skin like myself, I would definitely recommend picking this up as a cheek and eye palette!
Moving on to the actual Olivia Hale Eyeshadow Palette, and I am pretty sure this was only 99p too, but please don't quote me on that. This good-sized palette contains three matte shadows, one matte with sparkle shadow and five metallic/shimmery shadows. Even the white shadow in this palette has great colour and pigment pay off, and then metallics - oh my goodness, they are buttery soft and the lightest swipe gives unreal pigmentation and shimmer. I love how you have those neutral mattes, as well as shimmers and metallics, and warm tones, and nude shades, that you can create so many full eye makeup looks. You aren't going to have to be dipping in and out of different palettes for transition shades, and base shades - this palette has it all. I am currently in Orlando whilst this post is live and I will definitely have taken this palette with me as I hate the fact that I might break a £40 eyeshadow palette in my suitcase, whereas at this price, I can just buy another if it breaks!
I then had to pick up the Olivia Hale Volumising Mascara because I love trying out new mascaras, but for someone who has naturally fine, short, straight and fair lashes, I never hold out much hope. Again, I think this was 99p, and it comes in quite a cute black and rose gold sleek designed tube. The brush applicator is a natural bristle-style brush and is shaped into a curve, like with a curling mascara. I had no hopes for this mascara when I saw the sparse wand, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. It curls my lashes, and I wouldn't say it adds tonnes of volume, but it lengthens them too, and it even made my bottom lashes look quite nice. I have spent around £40 on a Tom Ford mascara before, and I would say it performs only slightly better than this 99p one.
I would definitely recommend you trying out Olivia Hale makeup for yourself. I bought these products myself, and as always I am completely honest and I was really impressed with this collection, apart from a couple of the shades of the Concealer Palette. These will make great stocking filler gifts and if you travel a lot, then you can get a full face of makeup for under a tenner and it doesn't matter if a luggage assistant sends your case flying. Check out Home Bargains online here.
All the Loves,
Kathryn xxx
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