From luxurious feeling lipsticks to bang on trend cheek palettes, Makeup Revolution has been notching up dazzling product successes over the festive season and into 2024. Part of a stable of brands that fall under the umbrella of Revolution Beauty, it has both surprised and satisfied makeup lovers.
Some of them, like me, are once faithful customers who have quietly drifted away, collectively suffering from ‘launch fatigue’. It can be hard to keep up with Revolution when it seems to bulk drop new arrivals on the front page of its website every single week! That’s not to say the obsessed haven’t purchased the brand’s products in the meantime. I, for one, may not have splurged on the company’s own platform in a while but I have bought its products - either from Amazon or Beauty Bay. And I had Revolution products gifted to me over Christmas as well.
‘Pleasantly surprised’ doesn’t adequately convey my overall impression of what’s new in my Revolution collection. I’ve been excited and inspired by more than one or two of those products. The quality, innovation and colour stories have all added up to ‘fresh’ and ‘relevant’. To illustrate what I’m harking on about, I’ll share some of my ‘finds’ with you below. So, if you haven’t taken a look at what this vegan and cruelty free brand has been doing lately, you can catch up.
Makeup Revolution gift set surprises
I’ve opened two makeup gift sets in the past month. One was Makeup Revolution’s Get The Look Party Ready collection and the other was its Shrek Gingy 12-Day Advent Calendar. Both products have pretty much sold out - and I’m not surprised. As well as delivering value for money, they came up trumps in terms of both product selection and quality. And the packaging went above and beyond too.
The tinned gingerbread man advent calendar was delivered (by Beauty Bay - sorry, Revolution!) in the most gorgeous, embossed keepsake tin. Inside were 12 sensational gift boxes, each containing a beauty treat. I’m not easily impressed, because I buy makeup products practically every day of the week, but some of the items in this collection literally blew me away.
Here are a few of the ones I can’t seem to put down:
Piggy Lipstick
I’ve got a lot of Revolution lipsticks but none of them are like this. The Piggy Lipstick feels like a lip conditioner, so soft and luxurious, but delivers fantastic, even pigmentation. I had to pause for a moment when I first used it - to savour the hydrating sensation. The shade may appear dark in the image above but it looks light beige/pink when applied. It dries down to a stunning lip tint. I absolutely love this lipstick. It looks amazing paired with a lip pencil. I hope the brand rolls this lippy out as a stand-alone product in a choice of shades.
Shrek Brow Gel
I’m a regular user of the Revolution eyebrow pencil, which has a mascara-type gel with a wand at one end. I’ve never before used anything like the Shrek Brow Gel. It’s more of a lacquer than a gel. In all honesty, I initially mistook it for a lip gloss (even though it’s green!). The disgusting taste, which made me wretch, quickly flagged my error. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, so I had to go online to determine where on my face it was intended to go. It turned out to be an amazing brow product and can be used instead of wax to create a faux laminated look. Quick and easy to apply, it is already my favourite brow product. Never thought I’d be putting something green on my brows!
Gingy Highlighter
This golden highlighter is presented in a stunning gold compact with a clear window lid. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. As well as being a dinky handbag size, it’s all-round cute and very wearable. This product is perfect for the Peach Fuzz trend, tipped to go big this year, and I will get a lot of use out of it during the summer months. The shade is also suitable for the eyes, so it’s a shimmer with versatility.
Gingy Eyeshadow Palette
The pièce de résistance of the calendar, opened on Day 12, this nine-pan eyeshadow palette is simply gorgeous. Filled with toasty and sparkly shades, it is the essence of festive makeup. Set in a remarkably adorable palette, with Gingy himself holding a candy cane on the front, it is crammed with rich nudes, including some metallics. This palette even has a mirror, an added bonus.
There was plenty more in my gingerbread man tin! All good quality and all wearable. A blingy red and white scrunchie, which screamed ‘Christmas’, was hastily snapped up by my 10-year-old granddaughter who wore it to her school’s Christmas carol service, where she had a speaking role. I am in love with the liquid eyeshadow in gold. There is an image of me wearing it at the bottom of another feature here.
All-in-all, the Shrek Gingy 12-Day Advent Calendar was one amazing buy. To think, I only bought it because another calendar I’d set my heart on had sold out! I am not normally a fan of cartoon-style, child-like collaborations, but this one was amazing. The design appealed to me and it introduced me to plenty of new products that I have used and will continue to use. All that excitement for a sale price of around £23!
The tin and its 12 merry surprise boxes have all been retained, ready to be filled with sweets next Christmas.
I asked my partner to buy me the Party Ready gift set for Christmas because it contained some staples I was running low on - i.e. mascara, eyeliner and lip pencil. What I didn’t count on was the totally in vogue Soft Glam palettes that were also included, and a nude lipstick to match! What a bargain!
My favourite item in this collection was:
Take A Breather Highlighter Quad
This highlighter quad is really ‘in the moment’. It contains shimmers for every part of the face and is perfect for glowy contouring or for dabs of lustre in the corners of the eyes. It will complement my attempts at Soft Glam, so it will get plenty of use.
The inclusion of a Lift and Curl Black Mascara really made this set worth having. A full face of makeup for an incredibly low price. Amazing!
Makeup Revolution v Revolution Skincare London
Most of the items I repeat-purchase by this brand are from its Revolution Skincare London range. I’m on my fifth Winter Glow Energise Collection. I love everything in this gift set, especially the brightening ginseng eye cream, brightening face cream and pineapple face tonic. Most recently, I’ve had to buy it from Beauty Bay because it hasn’t been available on Revolution’s website.
Other favourites include its watermelon moisturising gel and Retinol Overnight Face Cream.
A recent purchase, from Amazon (because I’m a Prime member and delivery is free), was the 5% Caffeine and Hyaluronic Acid Under Eye Serum. I normally use a caffeine solution by The Ordinary, but it was out of stock. Early days, so I cannot yet determine if it is as good as my usual product. If the bag under my left eye reappears, I will know it is not.
I'll always have a soft spot for Makeup Revolution - it’s where my obsession for eyeshadow palettes all began. From the depths of despair, undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, I found my guiding light - pan after pan of glorious colour. The shades bewitched me. Those Chocolate palettes that first took my fancy not only diverted my attention from what was happening in my life at that time, they spawned an all-consuming desire to collect eyeshadow palettes. If I’d known then, when I was snapping up the likes of Turkish Delight and Sprinkles for under a tenner, that I’d go on to pay mega bucks for top-brand releases, I may just have curbed my enthusiasm.
Ah, well, an eyeshadow collector is what I am now. And my charming, cute little nine-pan Gingy palette is truly worthy of a place next to the biggest and best.
I can honestly say I’ve rediscovered Makeup Revolution. Have you?