At last – a really decent mass brand that’s affordable and accessible. We’ve seen plenty of luxury launches, and those previously categorised as luxury but now considered mid-price (because we’ve all somehow accepted the £30 lipstick as fine), but not so much in the high street category. FLOWER is the brainchild of all-round nice super-star, Drew Barrymore, in conjunction with product development company, Maesa. It’s sold in the US through Wal-Mart and Ulta, so Superdrug is exactly the right place for it. And interesting that the brand chose Superdrug and not Boots.
The products that so far have impressed me the most are the foundations and concealers. These are great concealers and remind me in flexible texture and longevity of True Match concealers. Light Illusion Full Coverage Concealer doesn’t crease or dry and at £8.99, it’s my top recommend if you want to try something from FLOWER. I’m wearing, as I write, Natural Beige Light Illusion Foundation – it’s a fraction too deep for my skin at the moment – and it gives a medium weight coverage leaning to full coverage. While I can tell straight away that it’s not a luxury formula, I love that it isn’t matte – it’s an ‘illuminating’ finish and for that you can read lightly dewy. It blends really well as you’d hope, but did find a way to settle into my nose pores – if you have no nose pores you have no problem, but I’d advise good skin prep before wear.
Next up, the Mix N’Matte Lip Duos that give you the choice of two finishes. At one end, a matte lipstick and at the other a pearly low sheen gloss. Melon Kiss, the peachy looking one, is a great colour for me (wearing it now) but I liked the glossy end better than the matte lipstick. I put the gloss over the lipstick and got a very decent coverage. The matte lipstick doesn’t have the silky, luxury feel that I’ve got used to but it’s not an uncomfortable wear by any means. They’re £7.99 each and good value at that price. There are several shades including a gorgeous looking red.
Miracle Matte Liquid Lip Colour, shown here in Scarlet Letter, is a liquid lipstick – more highly pigmented than the Mix N’Mattes and therefore more unruly. It’s a proper smack-down of scarlett and has a weightless feel on the lip. It dries almost immediately so doesn’t have a chance to seep into any lip creases. It’s all in all pretty damn amazing actually for £7.99.
At the moment, Superdrug is showcasing a small, capsule collection of FLOWER so you won’t see all tones – at Ulta there are 12 foundation shades going from very light to very deep but on Superdrug at the moment you’ll only see six shades. More shades and products will roll out into stores and on-line during January. The thing to get your hands on – because it’s sold out completely in the US – is the Supernova Celestial Skin Elixir, £14.99 (just popping one in my basket right now and I’ve just seen one listed for £64 on Ebay), a pearlescent gel-oil for skin prep. Everything is HERE.
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