Collection Cover Up Stick REVIEW

A few months ago I bought Collection's cover-up stick in shade #13 "Natural Beige" for £2.99 at my local Superdrug store, and I love it... for all the wrong reasons. 

At the time of the purchase, I knew that Natural Beige was too dark for my skin, but only slightly. If there had been a lighter shade available in the store, I would've bought it - but sadly there isn't much choice for paler people such as myself in many high street stores. In some ways buying the darker shade worked to my advantage; for I like to drag the stick under my eyes and rub the product in with my ring finger in order to hide my dark circles, and this is where the shadows would naturally fall on your skin. So you would want that area to look a little bit darker than the rest of your face anyway; just to ensure that you're looking as natural as possible.

I do try to use it to cover up my spots, but the only thing it really works on for me personally is my dark circles. This is because - with the product being a tiny bit too orange for my pale skin - it doesn't cover blemishes. Usually, it just creates an orange ring around/over the spot that is really hard to remove. I also find that it makes my skin look streaky in the places where I've tried to hide spots, so I am of the opinion that a liquid concealer would work a lot better on my spots. Here's a before and after shot...

Without Collection Cover-Up Stick

With Collection Cover-Up Stick

Sorry for the no-makeup shots guys but I really thought this was needed! So, today I only used the product under my eyes and over the spot that has developed just above my nose. You can see in the bottom-most picture that my skin appears fresher just by adding a miniscule amount under my eyes, and I even look a little less tired. This is great for me when I'm getting ready for a day at school. As for the spot - it does appear reduced, but only slightly. However, I suspect that, had I used my camera for the photos of my face, the spot would appear slightly more visible. I would say that with the Cover Up stick over my spots, you can tell (even with the slightest amount) that I've used a product. And it does make my skin tinge with orange.

Having said that, when I combine this product with my Rimmel foundation and Collection powder, some spots are hardly visible at all. I'd recommend this product for covering dark circles, but not much else. I would suggest paying a little bit more for a liquid concealer if you're going to hide your spots.

I would have taken more photos today guys - if the batteries in my camera hadn't died! Poor planning. Anyway, if you have any questions about this product please feel free to tweet me at @HUNT3RMUNT3R on Twitter. This article is not sponsored and all views are 100% mine.

Clearasil "Daily Clear" Deep Cleansing Pads REVIEW

For a year on-and-off, I've been trying to find out just how good the Clearasil Daily Clear Deep Cleansing Pads are and I've been using the product consistently for the past couple of months or so. Clearasil recommends that you use the product twice a day (in the evening and in the morning) so I've stuck tirelessly to that routine - even when it meant getting out of bed having forgotten to use it. I didn't use it in combination with any other facial scrubs or spot treatments.

Using the pads on my face I found that they aren't as harsh on your skin as I first imagined. This is largely due to the fact that as long as you don't leave your container open, you'll never get a dry pad. All the good stuff's in there - the pads really soak up the liquid well. I did find that while my skin took to the liquid it went a little red; but not to worry because that soon fades. You can even target harsher spots by pressing a clean pad down on them so that more liquid comes out. The application is quick and easy, and you can effectively put on however much you want to. I wouldn't say that the product feels very luxurious on, but it does feel like you're doing good by your skin. Oddly, your skin feels especially clean and cool but just a little bit sticky.

There was one up-side to using Clearasil on and off - and this was that I noticed a difference when I stopped using the product. And what I found was that the Clearasil doesn't help all of the spots, but it helps with a great deal of them. After using the product (for quite a long period of time) you do notice that all yellowheads cease to exist, but a few of your average red ones do still appear in your most "populated" area - mine being the sides of my face due to irritation from my hair - and you will still get the occassional breakout. The red spots do still take quite a while to disappear - leaving scars for quite some time - but they do disappear more quickly than when I'm not using the product. The worst thing about the Clearasil pads is that if you miss a session (either in the morning or at night) you're likely to have a breakout. For me, it just seems like your spots miss a section of the cycle - the yellowheads are all that don't appear. Some days your face is clearer than others.

For some people, application twice a day still won't be enough and you'll have to use it a third time. It's for this reason that I feel as though there should be more pads in the tubs - 65 is all that's in mine. I'd say one tub probably takes a month to run out, but you can do the maths.

So, here's a brief breakdown of the product:

PROS/POSITIVES:
1) Quick and easy application
2) Targeted application
3) Gets rid of yellowheads
4) Dries in quickly (making make-up application as easy as usual)
5) Overall it feels nice on your skin

CONS/NEGATIVES:
1) Doesn't help so much with scarring
2) You still get breakouts
3) (Being picky) there could be more pads in the tubs
4) You'll probably have to use it more than is recommended

Any questions, please comment or send them in a (private) message to my YouTube channel inbox.