Do I have what it takes to be a Glossier girl?

The beauty brand Glossier has been around for a minute so yes, I'm a little late to the game. That being said, I've always been very aware of it and slightly in awe of its cult-like status. In my humble (non beauty-guru) opinion you can't argue that Glossier has a fairly strong reputation among it's customers. As an ethos, the brand makes products with real beauty routines in mind saying that 'beauty is not created in a boardroom' and that the customer must be a part of the process. Before we get in to the review let it be known that I forked out for all the products listed below. This is an impartial and non-paid for review from someone who is the RIGHT side of thirty (which means I'm over thirty I'm just trying to flip that saying) hoping to invest in good beauty products for her face. Glossier has its roots in editorial content with a beauty blog known as 'Into The Gloss', it was originally created by Emily Weiss back in 2010 and is still functioning today alongside the Glossier brand. On their website Emily explains some of the issues she encountered while interviewing women about beauty;

"When I started Into The Gloss, I wanted to make beauty as much of an element of personal style as fashion. As I interviewed hundreds of women, I became more and more aware of how flawed the traditional beauty paradigm is. It has historically been an industry based on experts telling you, the customer, what you should or shouldn’t be using on your face" 

I'm sure you're wondering at this point why I'm harping on about the history of these products when I should get down to reviewing them. The truth is, I want to take my time with this review as I did with the actual purchase. I don't traditionally spend a lot on beauty products so if I was going to commit to a purchase (and postage and packing) I wanted to make sure that I did my research. *Enter my three weeks spent living deep within a YouTube hole of Glossier product reviews* This is a rabbit hole (an enjoyable one don't get me wrong) but I'll save you the hassle and explain the majority of what I discovered from my hours of research online. With most non-sponsored product reviews I could see a general theme begin to emerge and that is the lack of coverage with these formulas. The foundation or 'skin tint' in particular was frequently being referred to as a CC cream rather than a full coverage foundation. Aside from that there was a lot of positivity online, the word 'dewy' came into play a lot which made me slightly concerned because one person's dewy can frequently be another person's oily! Nonetheless, I began to mentally place some of these products into my virtual shopping bag. Here's the list of products that I started off with and as a 'starter kit' it definitely worked in terms of getting a good sense of the products and formulas on offer. Perfecting Skin Tint - G11 - €24 This foundation is true to name in that it's not really a foundation... it's a skin tint. You definitely need to be comfortable with your own skin in order to appreciate it. It balances out any discolouration and it's certainly not heavy but there's little to no coverage. It's a definite repurchase for me I think it's worth the price, but if you're looking for coverage it's a big fat no. Stretch Concealer - G12 - €18 Love this concealer. It's light, it doesn't cake it's WAY more buildable than the foundation so, in areas I wanted more coverage I just used this as a cream base. A definite repurchase from me up there with Benefit concealers and well worth the price tag. Cloud Paint in Puff - €18 All hail the cloud paint Gods. Just buy them all, it's a joy to put this on every day an outright joy I tell you. Yes, I'm being dramatic but this is a wonder product. I've never used a cream blush like it, just buy them all. Boy Brow - €15 So, this is hailed as one of their 'icon' products and it is good. The problem is, if you have delicious bushy brows to begin with yes, you can just pop this on and go... it's a great brow gel. But if you don't, you need to take more time to fill them in and then run the the gel through your brows. Still good but I might invest in trying to grow bigger eyebrows before repurchasing. Lash slick - €16 The mascara is a no from me. When it comes to coverage I'm fine with doing the 'barely there' thing but with mascara I need VOLUME. This mascara is really good for a lower lash mascara but I wouldn't be purchasing it again as an every day go to. Balm Dotcom Skin Salve in Rose - €12 This is another one of the 'icon' products and I use it every day! It's a great lip balm plain and simple. I have it at my desk and reapply multiple times per day. A definite repurchase and I'm going to branch out into the other flavours/colours next time. There you have it! In terms of a first time buyer I'm pretty over the moon with the brand. I use most of the products every day and I've just gone back and purchased some items from their skincare line (my bank account hates me) which I'll report back on. It's also encouraging to see Glossier invest and commit to bringing about change in the beauty industry from their position of power. They've launched an initiative to support black-owned beauty businesses as well as donating 500 thousand dollars to organisations fighting racial injustice. Obviously it's up to you how you spend your money but for me it's a winner! Check out their fundraising and initiative details below:   All products are available from the Glossier website.