REVIEW| INSTAGRAM PURCHASES

Work, work, work, work, work, work…a few indistinguishable moments then back at it again – this has been my life of late! In my last post, I shared a few tips about making beauty purchases off Instagram and I had mentioned that I would review the products that I’d bought and the service I received. This review is quite overdue but I hope that it will still be helpful in some way.

Sigma-dupe makeup brushes

My first purchase off Instagram was a set of Sigma-dupe makeup brushes. I have had these brushes for about a year now and they still rank high in my favourite brushes collection. I bought them from @makeupastorm for about R250 for a set of four that consisted of two flat-top kabuki brushes (one small and one large) and two tapered kabuki brushes, also small and large. The brushes are made of densely packed, duo-fibre synthetic bristles which means that they work well for full coverage eyeshadow and foundation application and blending. I can’t compare them to the original Sigma brushes because I haven’t tried those out, but for a dupe product I think they are of excellent quality - very soft and no shedding whatsoever, even after a couple of washes. Even the gold detailing of the brushes has lasted, which is an A++ in my books!

The service I received was excellent. @makeupastorm responded quickly to purchase queries and allowed the option of ‘pay on collection’. Unfortunately, @makeupastorm doesn’t sell the brushes anymore but there are multiple other sellers on Instagram who offer nationwide delivery.

The gorgeousness that is Morphe 35O

My second purchase off Instagram is the highly sought-after Morphe 35O eyeshadow palette and the LA Girl Pro Conceal Colour Corrector in ‘Orange’ (before it was available in South Africa). I bought these from @muse.sa for R650 and R90, respectively.

Great pigmentation from both matte and shimmery shades

I cannot even begin to describe my excitement when I received the Morphe palette. It felt like my birthday and Valentine’s Day and Christmas Day and Friday night and Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon were all rolled up into one moment as I opened that package. Good thing the palette has lived up to its hype as I would have been crushed! What I have found most useful about the palette is its wide array of matte neutral, brown and orange shades. These are ideal for everyday simple makeup and also offer a great variety of transition colours for different skin tones. The metallic shades consist of gorgeous champagne, bronze, rust and gold hues, however some of the bolder colours are not as finely-milled and therefore create fallout, so I would recommend that you use a setting spray to apply those. The setting spray also helps intensify the colour. As great a palette as the Morphe 35O is, I find it quite disappointing that black is not included as one of the shades in the palette.

LA Girl Pro Conceal HD Concealer (Colour Corrector) in 'Orange'.

As I mentioned, I also bought the LA Girl Pro Conceal Colour Corrector in ‘Orange’ which is currently available in South Africa and retails for about R45 at Dischem. The liquid-based concealer is great for colour correcting darkened acne scars and hyperpigmentation that usually show through when you have concealer or foundation on. Like most dark-skinned women, my main hyperpigmentation problem area is around my mouth, so I use the colour corrector to disguise the discolouration that often makes my foundation appear ashy in that region.  There’s a lot more to be discussed w.r.t. how different colours work in concealing various pigmentation problems, so I’ll save that for another post. What’s useful to know in this post, is that the colour corrector is easily blendable and sets to a matte finish.

@muse.sa was very efficient in terms of customer service - quick responses on Whatsapp and gave an indication of when the package would be delivered. I received my package within three days of payment.

Long lasting colour from Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip in 'LAX'

My third purchase off Instagram is the Colourpop Ultra Matte liquid lipstick in ‘LAX’. I bought it from @only_xiiiaah for R135 and paid R60 for delivery. If you have been searching for a matte, highly-pigmented, longest-lasting (yes, longest) burgundy-brown lipgloss/ liquid lipstick for winter or whenever you want to turn heads and capture eyes and hearts, this is the product you might want to get. Just a friendly PSA.  It’s ultra matte as the name suggests and dries fairly quickly, so you will definitely need to moisturise your lips before application.  I use The Body Shop’s Solid Oil for Lips (from the Wild Argan Oil range) and it manages to keep my lips moisturised without changing the matte formula of the liquid lipstick.

In terms of customer service, I experienced a communication issue with @only_xiiiaah, which meant that I received my purchase much later than I had expected but fortunately the delivery issue was explained and sorted out in the end.

For all of these purchases, the products (except the brushes) arrived sealed in original packaging so I trust that the products being sold are not counterfeit. You can obviously also compare the products with others that have been reviewed to ensure that you are getting the real McCoy (or Makoya, for us South Africans, lol). Also note that prices may have changes since I made the purchases.

There are multiple other beauty products that I’ve seen being advertised and sold on Instagram, so the selection of seller and product is fairly wide. It’s just a matter of finding what you want and the best person from whom to buy it.

Hope the review has been helpful!

Love, 

V