Mascara Collection and Mini Reviews

I have a small obsession with mascara, for years I've been on a quest to get the longest, fullest lashes possible.  I am so envious of people with naturally beautiful lashes, because I have the priveledge of sporting the shortest, shubbest lashes going.  Also this list is not necesarily in the order of most favoruite to least favourite, however, the ones to the right are slightly less used.

Benefit Bad Girl mascara

The first thing people notice is the large wand, and yes for my small eyes I would have thought that this would be a nightmare. I was pleasantly surprised with my first high end mascara, and more so after a week so it wasn't quite as wet.  Instantly lengthens and slightly fills out the lashes I probably wouldn't buy this full size version again but when Glamour magazine were including a mini sample a couple of months back I did snap it up for £2.

Maybelline Mascaras

For a long time Maybelline was my favourite brand for mascara, when I found out there was a new release on the high street, I would be the first one buzzing about the makeup stand. The ones I would by again are Falsies, and Colossal.  One by one, im not a big fan of the plastic brush and this is by no means a bad mascara, but personally I prefer the result of the others. 

Comb Mascaras

For people with small eyes like myself, mascaras that have a comb-like wand are a godsend to us. To give the effect of bigger or rounder eyes the lashes should be made longer preferably in the centre of the eye, rather than volumising or fanning the lashes at the end as this makes them look smaller and longer. L'oreal Telscopic and No7 Extreme Length are perfect examples of how to achieve long clump-less lashes, even as the mascara dries out.  I'm one of these people that use lots of different mascaras in order to get the finish I want.  I would use various volumising mascaras to add some depth and then finish off combing my lashes through with either combing mascara. Writing this post really makes me want to get the new telescopic mascara because probably all in all this is my favourite type of mascara because it captures all the lashes and leaves a very natural looking lash so can be used to create a simple daytime or more dramatic night time look.

Voluminous Mascaras

These types of mascaras work best for larger eyes as the volume elongates them and really makes big eyes pop.  My favourite from the bunch is the Max Factor False Lash Effect, again a large wand which could lead to panda eyes if you're not careful.  I overcome that by getting into the habit of putting my mascara on my bottom lashes before the top ones, this way when I tilt my head back I don't get a line of mascara at the top of my eyelid.  My least favourite is between Maybelline Volum' Express and 17 Ultimate Volume, neither for me make a lot of difference on the lashes and can transfer easily onto the skin.

Thanks for reading... But Shh remember, it's a secret

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Better than Chanel for £3.99?

The perfume Mademoiselle by Chanel has been very popular and at £62 for a 50ml bottle, it seems it's not cheap to smell good. Or is it? International supermarket chain Lidl decided to rival the French brand by selling their own Suddenly Madame Glamour for only £3.99 per 50ml bottle.

Now everybody loves a dupe but does it really match up to the quality of Chanel? A blind test was carried out and the result showed that an amazing 91% not only liked the Lidl's version but actually preferred it to their £62 rival.


I, like other people, would ordinarily prefer to say I wore a branded perfume rather than one off of a supermarket shelf, however, the love of a good bargain is too much for me. I would now actually yell about how I get the same, if not better, for 15 times less than I would at a chanel counter.


Chanel

• Packaging is beautiful and I prefer the colour of the perfume
• Longer lasting and stronger scent
• Brand name

Lidl

• £3.99 (Can buy 15 bottles to one of Chanel's and still have some change left over)
• Softer scent but 91% of people preferred it
• Easy to find - Supermarket

Ding Ding, round one to Lidl I think. but which one would you buy?

But sshh remember, it's a secret!

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£100 Asos Challenge!

In the past couple of days I've seen a few of these posts pop up, so I thought I'd join in too, discountcoder has the details of the challenge.

                                                              Dress £45, Rimmel Lipstick £5.49, River Island Clutch £15, Earrings £4, Shoes £21

When I first had a look I didn't know what type of outfit I was going to create, but I did know I wanted a classy, elegant look.

This dress is beautiful, I know some people have gone for more versatile pieces, but I love that this isn't a dress that everyone has in their wardrobe.  However, the rose gold colour really sets this outfit off and is a really popular colour at the moment.

I thought because the dress is so striking I would go for simple accessorises that wouldn't steal the limelight, yet still have the sophisticated edge that I wanted.
Makeup wise I liked the idea of a red lip to add a small pop of colour onto the face.


Total Spent = £90.49 (I never have money left over, success)

Thanks for reading... But sshh remember, it's a secret
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Monthly Favourites - June

June has been a very busy month for me and these are the products that I have reached for the most.  In May I decided I wanted to try and sort out my skin care routine because I do sometimes neglect my skin and dare I say it, I don’t always take my make-up off before I go to bed.

Therefore, I’m going to start with my favourite of my skin care routine.  My daily moisturiser is La Roche-Posay Hydreane Light  which I love, not just because it works and my skin feels better than ever, but the consistency is perfect which, for me, is very unusual for a light moisturiser.   Normally I find them a little bit watery and don’t feel they actually work, whereas with my La Roche-Posay you can feel it settle into your skin and notice a difference.  The other thing I love about this cream, is the smell, hands down the best smelling cream I own, when I open the bottle I forget I bought this from Boots for £14.30, so luxurious and fresh, but not strong so that it lingers after its been applied to the face. 





Second moisturiser is Garnier Intensive 7 Days Daily Body Lotion with calming HONEY for Sensitive Skin. This moisturiser claims that it will keep your skin soft for 7 days, after applying it for 4 weeks, my skin felt hydrated after just a few days.  The lotion absorbs really quickly so there’s no need to hang about before getting dressed, and has a lovely honey smell which lasts for hours.  There are five different variants for a range of skin types which all have their own fragrances.  I use my body butters religiously but my Garnier body lotion, for the moment has definitely taken their place at only £4.99 for 400ml.

I’ve used exfoliaters on and off for years but mainly before I fake tan to remove any dry or dead skin cells.  But recently I’ve been using them just because I love how they leave my skin so smooth and I think my shower gels are more moistening after use especially on my arms.  I can’t decide which body scrub I prefer out of Soap Glory Flake Away and Cocoa Butter Cream Body Scrub both work so well to transform your skin to be so silky smooth which I haven’t found in other scrubs.  I will be doing a more in-depth review on these products as well as other Soap & Glory and Body Shop products.

This is definitely my favourite product of this month and maybe even of the year so far  L'Oreal Rouge Caresse Lipstick, I stumbled upon these on the Boots website and saw these had a high rating and good reviews so next time I was out shopping I picked up one in Sweet Berry.  Sheer but buildable to create a pop of colour, these just glide on so softly they leave you rubbing your lips together, maybe that’s just me.  Light weight and moistening I ran back and picked up 4 more, slowly I want to buy all of the different colours because since buying my first Caresse lipstick, I haven’t used any other,  including forgetting about my MAC lipsticks and I would always choose these over the Revlon Lip Butters.  As much as this pains me to say it, this would not be fair if I didn’t point out one small criticism.  You do have to reapply these more often than many other lipsticks which for some people will be a big no no!  But I actually don’t mind this, the application of these lipsticks will never get old for me I love this product and would recommend to anyone.  At the moment Superdrug is doing 3 for 2 in L’oreal products or £7.99 each from Boots.

 Next, a brush, Coastal Scents Flat Top Kabuki Brush which I purchased from Ebay in the 22 Brush Set and is by far the best brush I’ve ever tried for applying foundation.  I know everyone keeps saying about the Samantha Chapman brushes but since using and falling in love with this brush the immediate need for the Real Techniques brushes has, for now, been suppressed.  When I use this brush I get a flawless base, whether I use a light coverage or a fuller coverage foundation, and due to this I'm starting to come round to thinking that it is the brushes that make a high quality makeup look.  Saying that, this brush proves that you don’t need to throw £30 at a MAC counter for one brush, you can pay half of that and achieve the same beautiful effect.  Probably the softest brush I own and when I went back and used my ELF Powder Brush, I couldn’t believe how rough it was I have been completely converted.  The only downside to this brush is that where it is so dense it sucks in a lot of product into the bristles so a waste of product, however, I slightly dampen the ends to stop it absorbing my foundation.

Eyebrow pencils are another product that when I use get into the habit of using powder I completely forget how good and precise a pencil is and Rimmel Professional Eye Brow Pencil is one of the best I’ve used.  The dark brown colour I use is not the perfect colour for me but the brush on the end just adds to making a more natural filled in brow.  This month I don’t even think I’ve picked up my normal ELF brow set that I have used day in day out for a good year or so, and think the pencil application is quicker.  Sometimes this pencil makes me wish that I could just change my eyebrow colour whenever I wish, just so I could collect all the colours of these pencils.

I have a love-hate relationship with doing my nails, I love what they look like afterwards, but it’s hard for me to find the time to sit down and do my nails.  I also get really impatient waiting for my nails to grow to a normal length so I use false nails and these Boots French Nails are brilliant to pop on with Nailene Ultra quick glue and you’re good to go.  Due to the fact I have been gifted with weirdly small hands, I use the extra small pink nails and think these give a beautiful nature look to the nails.  The longevity of most false nails depends on lots of different factors but mainly how you treat your hands.  For example someone who works with their hands a lot or their hands are constantly in water the nails are more likely to come off easier than someone who isn’t heavy handed and take care not to knock or weaken the nails.  Another thing is the glue that is used, Boots own nails glue I definitely would not recommend, however Nailene Ultra Quick Nail Glue which is only £2.80 and even though the bottle is little it will last a very long time, it’s really strong and as the name suggests, very quick drying.  False nails normally last 5 days without any coming off at all, but when one or two do I reapply them and they last another couple of days, then I remove all of the nails.

Thanks for reading... But shh remember... It’s a secret

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