One Brand Review - C.Y.O Cosmetics

In case you haven't yet heard of C.Y.O Cosmetics, they are a new brand released by Boots which is replacing the brand Seventeen. Seventeen is being discontinued between now and August. C.Y.O have released some products that are exact replicas or very similar to certain Seventeen products and some products that are completely new and different. I've found a few amazing products from Seventeen, but some of their products are quite hit or miss. I love their mascaras and one of their concealers, but otherwise, I've not been blown away by the brand. C.Y.O is equally as affordable as Seventeen, so I thought I would try out some of the products that interested me and let you all know my thoughts!

Crush On Blush Powder Blush (Tell It Straight) - £4.00
- Tell It Straight is a nice pinky peach shade that’s great for pale skin, which is why I picked it up. When you swatch this blush, it looks quite shimmery, which initially put me off as it looked more like a blush topper or pink highlighter, however, when applied to the cheeks, it gives you a very subtle glow and a nice flush of colour. It’s not overly pigmented so you can build it up instead of looking like a clown with one swipe! The formula is quite soft too and doesn’t kick up any powder. It also blended out nicely on top of my powder / bronzer. The compact is nice and sturdy and I must say, I’m a fan of their sleek, basic packaging.

Matte Attack Matte & Blur Primer - £5.00
- This is a silicone based primer, which I usually don't like because I have combination skin, most of the silicone based primers I've tried leave me an oily mess by the end of the day. However, this one is unlike most silicone primers I've tried! This leaves your skin feeling super smooth and you don't need to use a lot to cover your face. It is not overly scented and it definitely does blur your pores. My foundation applied nicely over the top of this (I used the CYO foundation with this - which I have used a ton of times so I know how it performs by itself) and it didn't cause any separation or patchiness. It did mattify the foundation slightly, but not completely - it would still need to be set with a powder if you like a matte look. My main shock with this primer is how much longer it made my make up last! As I said, silicone primers usually make my oil worse in my t-zone, but this one definitely kept my make up matte and in place for longer! You get 30ml of product in the plastic squeeze tube.

Speaks Volumes Plumping Lip Gloss (Out Loud) - £5.00
- Alot of people don’t believe that lip plumping glosses work, but I have definitely found some that do - just don’t expect Kylie Jenner-esque lips that have just had fillers. This lip gloss definitely does plump my lips, I noticed almost immediately that they looked bigger and there was a strong tingle effect - most plumping lip glosses do this so if you don’t like that feeling, I would stay away from this product and similar ones. This lip gloss was also easy to remove and didn’t stain my lips at all, but the tingling sensation did stick around after I’d removed the gloss. I chose a dark purple shade, which is a beautiful colour, however, this lip gloss lacks pigmentation so doesn’t fully cover your lips and looks quite patchy. I haven’t tried it yet with a lip liner (completely filling the lips) but I feel like this would probably help the patchiness. The formula is very thick on this gloss so it’s quite hard work to apply - it doesn’t spread out nicely onto the lips so you have to keep dipping the applicator back in the tube. Overall, this product is average to me - I think it’s okay for the price and it definitely works as a plumper, but you couldn’t wear it on its own, unless you like the patchy look!

Setting Our Sights Kohl Gel Liner (Black) - £3.50
- I'm very fussy with eyeliner, but this one had great reviews online and for £3.50, I thought you can't really go wrong. I agree with the reviews - this eyeliner is creamy, black and relatively pigmented - which is what I like in an eyeliner! It applies really nicely to the waterline and lasts most of the day on my eyes. The actual eyeliner is quite long and it doesn't seem to wear down too quickly, which is a good sign that it should last a while! I really like the NYX eyeliner, but I find after a couple of uses, it has worn down so much that I need to sharpen it, because it is so creamy and soft. I do blend some eyeshadow underneath my waterline which smudges the eyeliner slightly so I'm not sure how it would perform without the eyeshadow underneath or on your eyelids, but I like this eyeliner for tight lining and for the waterline. Overall, it's not the best eyeliner I've ever tried, and it's not the worst.

Lifeproof Long Lasting Foundation (101) - £7.50
- I've spoken about this foundation a few times recently because it is one of my new favourite foundations. This was the first product I tried from CYO and I purchased it on recommendation from ThaTaylaa on YouTube (one of my favourite youtubers) because she has very pale, acne prone skin like me and she loved this foundation. I completely agree with her! This is a nice beige toned pale foundation - it's not the palest foundation I own, but with a bit of white mixer, it is a good shade for me. It doesn't pull too orange, yellow or pink, which is a nice change for a drugstore foundation. The formula is liquid but a good consistency, not too thick or too liquidy. It gives a high / medium coverage which is buildable and gives a dewy finish. Once set with powder, this foundation lasts all day on my skin. You get 30ml of product and the plastic bottle comes with a pump. This is definitely one of the best CYO products I've tried.

Crush On Metallic Single Eyeshadow (Lovey Dovey) - £4.50
- There are 3 different types of single eyeshadow from CYO - matte, metallic and shimmer. The matte and shimmer shadows are £3.50 each and the metallic eyeshadows are £4.50. There are only 5 shades available in the metallic range, which I haven't seen in person so I can't be sure, but judging by the photos online (that are not always accurate!) it looks like 3 are gold / bronze shades and the other two are silver shades.. so there's not a huge variety to choose from. Hopefully they will bring out more shades! Lovey Dovey is a warm, orangey bronze which is pigmented and very metallic, especially when used with a spritz of Fix+ on a flat shader brush. The formula is not the creamiest metallic shade I've tried, but it's still a good formula. There is little to no fall out from this eyeshadow so overall, it's a good product.

The Radiant One Bronzing and Illuminating Compact - £5.00
- This product interested me because I have nothing like it already and it looked quite unique. This has three shades - a warm toned bronzer and two shimmer / highlighter shades, one which is more champagne coloured and one which is a pinky shade. I wasn't sure how I was going to use it, so I applied it in two different ways. The first time, I swirled my brush around the pan to mix the different shades together and the second time, I used the shades individually. Personally on my skin tone, I didn't overly like the effect it gave when I mixed it all together. One their own, both the shimmery shades give a nice, natural looking glow - this is a very subtle highlighter, so if you like an intense sheen, you probably won't like this! The bronzer shade is slightly too warm toned for my skin, but the formula is very creamy and soft and the product doesn't kick up any powder. Again, the packaging is sleek and sturdy, but I would prefer if it contained a mirror! All in all, it's not a bad product for £5!

Let me know your thoughts on any C.Y.O make up that you've tried in the comments section below!

Sarah (aka. Pale Princess) x