YouTube Made Me Buy It - EYE PRODUCTS

You may remember on Friday I did the 'YouTube Made Me Buy It' tag-type post, featuring a whole host of face products which the online platform encouraged me to buy at some point over the past five or so years I've been watching. I said at the time that I wanted to do another two editions at some point in the future for 'Eyes' and Lips' and having given both those areas a little looksee, today I've gathered up a few items for the former which I want to share with you lovely lot! If you haven't seen the first post I did of this kind last week, I will link that here for you to catch up on, but for now, let's get into it...

URBAN DECAY PRIMER POTION - Starting off with probably one of the first products for the ol' peepers that YouTube encouraged me to buy - the Primer Potion from Urban Decay. Back in the day, pretty much everyone applied a layer of this on their lids to prep them for eyeshadow and after a while, I finally decided to believe the hype and try it out for myself. And you know what? I am super, super glad I did as it's turned out to be a complete staple in my makeup collection. This acts as an awesome base for my eyeshadow - shadows blend like a dream on top of it with maximum pigmentation and amazing longevity and no creasing to be seen. I think if you can get away without using an eye primer - lucky you! - then you may not see the appeal, but if you do - this is definitely the best I've tried.

RIMMEL MAGNIF'EYES MONO SHADOW IN 'MILLIONAIRE' - Onto eyeshadows - and I think this is where things get properly interesting. Eyeshadows - both singles and palettes - have forever been items which I've been either swayed to buy due to YouTube, or have been pretty close to doing so (Urban Decay Naked Palettes - I'm looking at you). This one in particular had perhaps less of a mass 'cult' following, but it was still something I purchased due to it featuring on YouTube. I think Sam from Pixiwoo first mentioned and used it, then the lovely Amy Farquhar did the same and those two ties was all I needed to go and buy it.

MAYBELLINE COLOR TATTOO 24HR GEL CREAM EYESHADOWS - Another 'single' shadow which I was definitely influenced to pick up a few shades of due to YouTube are these Color Tattoos from Maybelline. Back in the day, everyone and their Nan was harping on about these little cream shadow pots and considering how affordable they are, figured I may as well give them a go. I opted or the classic 'On And On Bronze' that seemed to be the firm favourite of them all, loved it and ever since have built up quite the collection. I think we may be nearing double digits now - ooops. They're under a fiver a go, are super creamy, blendable and pigmented and made for a great base for your traditional powder shadows or simply worn alone.

TANYA BURR EYESHADOW PALETTES - Palettes-wise, I feel like it wouldn't be right if I didn't include some products from YouTubers themselves - much like I did in Friday's post when I mentioned the awesome brand Real Techniques - as like I said, they would cease to exist without it and YouTube certainly was the main driving force behind me buying them. Aside from the fact that I am a big fan of Tanya herself, I really cannot fault her makeup range, Tanya Burr Cosmetics. Her eyeshadow palettes in particular are probably the stand-out product for me from the entire collection and if you've read round here before, I'm sure you'll know by now that I love them. They have amazing pigmentation, blend like a dream and now come in a whole host of stunning shade compilations too. For the pricepoint, you really can't complain and I am so glad YouTube enabled these to become a thing.

FLEUR DE FORCE 'LUNAR ROSE' EYESHADOW QUAD - Another YouTuber-related makeup range comes from the lovely Fleur De Force and having tried her collection, again the product which I feel is the best of them all is by far the eyeshadow palettes. I have one - the pinkier themed 'Lunar Rose' - and I love, love, love it. Again, another quad, this time with some pretty rosey tones. I love all four shades in here but to be honest, for me the star of the show is the rose gold on the top right. It. is. stunning. whether worn alone all over the lid, or with some of the deep purple plum buffed into the crease to smoke things up. Great quality shadows and once more, great value for money too.

NYX JUMBO EYE PENCILS - Moving swiftly onto eye pencils and this first one is perhaps where things get a little less positive - but hey - just like the first of these posts, I guess you have to include a product or two that you bought due to YouTube which hasn't worked out as well for you too? I was really excited to try these eye pencils from NYX. While I can be a little picky over eyeshadow stick-type products (sometimes I find them a tad dry and difficult to work with), I had just found a few from other brands which I loved and knew many people loved these too so thought I'd give them a go. I know 'Milk' (a standard white) is the most popular of them all, but I wanted to give the more interesting shimmery shades a go and I'm sorry to say, I'm not a fam. They're not as creamy as I'd like them to be, don't blend out easily and the pigmentation just isn't great. I also found them to crease up on my lids by the end of the day - which obviously, isn't what you really want either. I really wanted to like these - especially as I plumped for such pretty shades - but they aren't for me.

RIMMEL SCANDALEYES WATERPROOF KOHL KAJALS - As for actual eye pencils that you use on your lashline, these kohls from Rimmel were all that everyone talked about back in the earlier days of the YouTube beauty world. I think before I heard about these, I was only really familiar with the traditional eye pencils which have a firmer texture that simply apply and go. However, kohl pencils are great for it you want a more smudgy hit of definition and these were certainly the first type I heard of at the time. Back then, there were slightly different shades available - and I think that unfortunately, a couple of my favourites are no longer sold (boo!) - but they still remain one of my favourite eye pencils from the drugstore.

SOAP AND GLORY SUPERCAT LINER - Last up liner-wise is a liquid liner that I bought primarily due to the YouTube hype and has now become my ultimate favourite I've found so far. There was a time when everyone used this for creating that perfect cat flick and once I final started getting back into liquid liner again a while back, I knew this was the one I wanted to try it out with first. And I have to say, I am pretty darn glad I did. The flexible nib on this is neither too fat, nor too thin - meaning you can go for an ultra slim line, or build things up to be more thick and dramatic. It's super rich and black and lasts pretty well too, considering I reach for it on a fairly regular basis.

MAYBELLINE LASH SENSATIONAL MASCARA - As for lash offerings, there have been many mascaras over the years that I've been an avid watcher of YouTube that have caught my attention - but I'd say on the whole, for a long while it was the ones from Maybelline. First up, Tanya Burr swayed me onto trying The Falsies, then a year or so later Lily Pebbles raved on and on about The Rocket and then about a couple of years ago pretty much the whole of YouTube started hyping up the Lash Sensational. And I think of them all, that is the one which probably qualifies for this post the best. In the end, I just picked it up to see what all the fuss was about and I loved it. This version photographed above is actually the 'Luscious' version which I don't like as much; but the original formulation is spot-on for me. It gives so much volume length and lift and fans out the lashes while still thickening them at the same time. Super rich and black and lasts all day with no smudging or flaking. It's a winner in my eyes and definitely lives up the hype.

TOO FACED BETTER THAN SEX MASCARA - The second mascara which I feel was a purchase mainly influenced by the YouTube guys and girls that I follow is this one from Too Faced. This blew up just over a year ago (or maybe a little longer), with everyone using it, reviewing it, saying how great it was and eventually, I caved and picked it up. I don't have that much luxury, more expensive makeup just yet and this was probably one of the first that I bought and I was a little unsure at first. Of everything beauty-wise, mascaras were never something I understood the need to spend a whole lot of money on, but one day I had the money spare, wanted to treat myself and I am pretty glad I did. The big, bristle brush really gets into the roots of the lashes and adds tons of volume and drama, while still keeping the lashes looking fluffy and fluttery. Again, this isn't something I have to photograph as my last tube ran out a while ago and though I love it, it's more of a mascara that I buy occasionally due to the price tag.

ARDELL DEMI WISPIES - I have really been getting into the whole false lashes thang over the past year or so and I think this pair are partly responsible for that. After seeing countless YouTubers using and raving about these falsies, I finally gave them a go myself and ever since, they have fast become one of my favourite, go-to lash styles. They are relatively easy to apply (yanno, as easy as false lash application can be) and they just gives such a dramatic - yet still pretty - effect to the eyes.

L'OREAL BROW ARTIST PLUMPER - Finally for the 'Eyes' I'd definitely argue that this brow gel from L'Oréal is something that I was swayed into purchasing due to YouTube. When brow gels were having a bit of a moment at the drugstore with brands releasing one practically in concession - and the popular Benefit Gimmer Brow was also appearing left, right and centre too - this one from L'Oréal was what people were deeming the best cheaper alternative. It's got the same small brush and same 'volumising' formula which claims to add thickness to your brows aswell as setting them into place. Obviously, I haven't tried Benefit's offering myself, but this is a pretty good brow gel all the same and I am very thankful that the people of YouTube spoke out and persuaded me to give it a go.