HAUL + MINI REVIEWS: Drugstore makeup #1

Hello there,
As promised (for once), I will be writing about all the stuff I got from the drugstores here in Istanbul (because I'm studying here for a bit btw). I definitely spent waaaaay too much money from my allowance on these things than I should have (oops), but for the record, I didn't buy all these things in one go, this is a culmination of a few trips to the pharmacy/drugstore.

Funny story about hauls, I used to be really clueless as to why people make haul videos on youtube and why people even bother watching someone show off all the things they bought, but now I'm sort of obsessed with hauls and I'm interested in seeing what people pick up in stores and stuff. Hence why I'm making this post, for the people out there who are nosey and curious like I am haha

Anyway, on to the products!

Note: I do apologize for the horrific quality of these pictures, but the lighting was terrible so I had to make do with what I got. Because of that, the colours of some of these products aren't accurate to how they actually are irl, even though I tried to edit them to make them as accurate as possible. I'll put a note next to the ones that aren't colour-accurate, because I know how important looking up colours of products online are lol

Starting off with the face products, here's what I got:

1. Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer in the shade '010 Ivory'

My plan for the Rimmel concealer was to use it as a highlight, hence why I bought it in the lightest shade there was in the store. But to my dismay upon reaching home and opening up the tube (because there weren't any testers in-store), I found that it was just sliiiightly lighter than the colour of my foundation, so that's not gonna work as well as I hoped. Rimmel's infamously poor colour choices strike again! Also, because my skin is a damn oil slick, I'm not too fond of the finish of this concealer, because it dries dewy. I'm more on the matte finish bandwagon for anything that's going on my face.

2.Wet N Wild Coverall concealer in the colour 'Medium'

The Wet N Wild concealer is pretty much a perfect match for my skin tone though, so I'm excited to try it out. The coverage seems decent, but not as good as my Collection Lasting Perfection one. Idk, I'd have to test it out more to make a good judgement of it. I might do a drugstore concealer comparison post in the future, who knowsss

3. Essence Silky Touch Blush in the shade '70 Kissable'

I loooooove the Essence blush because it really suits my medium, warm Asian skin tone. As long as I don't put a ton of it on (like I accidentally did today oops) it gives my skin a nice, natural-looking flush. If I were to wear a light pink blush it would most probably look hideous and fake af on me, hence why I like this one. The blush itself is really pigmented and the colour is beautiful, so I'm definitely a fan of this.

4. Wet N Wild Mega Glo Illuminating Powder in 'Starlight Bronze'

The Wet N Wild Mega Glo is a shimmery bronzer with 4 strips of different colours which you unfortunately can't see too clearly in the picture. The shades are more red-toned, so if I swirled my brush around in all four colours and slap it on my face, I tend to look kind of like a lobster because my face is already pretty warm-toned to begin with and the warmness in the bronzer doesn't help. But if I use the two least red-toned colours only, I end up with a nice, glowy bronze.

5. Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder in '001 Transparent'

And lastly, the Rimmel Stay Matte powder. This is a repurchase, and I'm sure you've heard about this powder from someone or other. I just use it to mattify my face once I start getting shiny (which is pretty fast tbh). I also own this in the colour '006 Warm Beige' (I think), and that one is a good match for my skin tone. Honestly, I don't think this powder is THAT great because my oiliness shines through on my face pretty quickly with it on anyway, but that might just be because of my freakishly oily skin.

For the eyes, I got:

1. Wet N Wild Coloricon eyeshadow palette in 'The Naked Truth' (the colour in the picture for this one is slightly off to it's irl colour'

Okay, so about the Wet N Wild eyeshadow palette. The colours are pretty, ranging from light colours for highlight and darker ones for definition (though its weird that there's that one cool-tone shade out of all the warm ones), and I love that they're labelled with 'highlight', 'brow bone' 'eyelid', etc., but these will barely show up/stay on without a primer on yo eyelids. I mean, I don't really mind it for the price I'm paying for this. So if y'all were thinking about getting this, remember that you'll need to prime first if you want maximum colour payoff.

2. Essence single eyeshadow in the shade '19 The Grammy Goes Glammy'

I got the Essence eyeshadow to use as a highlight on my cheekbones (don't know why I got that idea, seeing as it'll make my face look way shinier than it already is), and it actually works pretty well for that purpose. The colour is a super duper pretty white champagne-y kinda colour, and the feel of this is really nice and smooth. This has tons of glitter in it so its ideal to use as an inner corner highlight as well.

3. Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo in the shades '35 On And On Bronze' and '05 Eternal Gold' (Eternal Gold in this picture isn't accurate to its irl colour aT ALL, in person its just a straight-up gold)

Do I really need to talk about the Maybelline Colour Tattoos? Or am I just getting lazy rn? Im sure you've heard everyone and their moms raving about these, and yes I too have joined in their ranks because these things are the bomb.com. They're super creamy and glittery and pretty, the colour payoff is amazing, and these. won't. budge. These are perfect to use as a base for other eyeshadows as well. I apply these with my finger because I find that's the easiest and works better than a brush. Just slap these on your eyelids for a wash of colour if you're feeling lazy and you are good to go.

4. NYC Liquid Eyeliner in 'Black/Noir'

I heard someone on youtube (can't remember who, might've been KathleenLights) raving about this eyeliner, so I knew I had to try it. I have had some not-so-good experiences with liquid eyeliners in the past, so I had high hopes for these. They're actually not too bad. My one major problem with eyeliners is them transferring to my bottom eyelid and making me look like a raccoon after a few hours, but these don't transfer too much (there still is a little tho). Admittedly, I've only used this once so I'll have to wear it more to be sure.

5. Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer in 'Noir'

6. Rimmel Volumeflash Scandaleyes Mascara in the colour 'Extreme Black'

Okay so I got the Rimmel mascara and eyeliner in a set where I basically got the eyeliner for free, and even though I didn't need another mascara or eyeliner, I couldn't resist the bargain (when can I ever). I didn't have high hopes for the mascara, but it managed to exceed my expectations. It volumizes and holds my eyelash curl (which is cool because my eyelashes are thin and stick-straight), and it doesn't budge throughout the day, even after washing my face. The eyeliner is nice and creamy, and claims to be waterproof. I love that they have a smudger bit at the end so I can smudge out the line and make it smoky. I've read so many good reviews about this online, so I'm excited to give it a shot.

Surprisingly I only got two things when it comes to lip products, because lip stuff is my favourite thing on earth and lipstick makes my life complete. I got the Wet N Wild Megalast Liquid Lip Color in the shades 'Pocketful Of Roses' and 'Cherry On Top'. (Btw, the colours of these are slightly darker irl than is showing in these pictures.) Okay, I'll save my opinion on these for a separate post because loRD DO I HAVE SOME STRONG OPINIONS ON THESE. If you've heard about/used these before, then you'll probably know what I'm talking about.

And lastly I got this set of travel-size brushes with a handy-dandy pouch from a brand called Eklips, who I've never heard of before. These brushes were reaaaaally affordable, so I wasn't expecting too much in terms of quality but boy was I wrong. These brushes are amazing. They're super soft, not a single hair (hair? do you call them hair?) has shed from any of these after a couple weeks' use, and I am very impressed. Imma be checking out their other brushes for sure.


I bought all these products either from Gratis or from Watson's here in Istanbul, but I'm know you can find most (if not all) of these in other parts of the world too. Unfortunately, I think the makeup brushes are only available in Turkey. I've linked pretty much all of the products to websites that ship worldwide, so you can purchase these online no matter where you live.

So that is it for my haul this time around. Overall I'm happy with my purchases, and knowing me and my non-existent self control, another haul will be coming soon (even though I honest to God hope not). Sorry for the incredibly long post, but I hope you've enjoyed reading and stay tuned for my next post.

Until the next one,
Alani