Review: 17 Photo Flawless Lashes

I bought this last Thursday for £5.99 (though it was actually free as part of Boots' ongoing 3 for 2). I already love the eye pencil from this range, and this is also the most expensive mascara I've ever bought (because I'm a cheapskate), so I had high expectations.

And this mascara lived up to them.

It comes in Black-Blue, Black-Copper, and Black-Green, and the idea is that you buy the tint that matches your eye colour, to help bring out the colour.

On the eye

Photo 1: Just some black eyeliner (Collection's Extreme 24H Felt Tip Eye Liner)

Photo 2: with two quick coats on the top lashes - you can see that the lashes already have more length and slightly more body than before.

Photo 3: Finished! Another couple of quick coats on the top lashes, some white eye liner (Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Pencil) on the waterline, and a coat on the lower lashes. You can see that this mascara has successfully avoided the tarantula-eye syndrome. Even if the gold-ness isn't obvious on the eye, I do think (though this may be the placebo effect) that the mascara has helped to bring out my eye colour.

Packaging

As you can see in the photo above, it comes in a bodacious black tube and has a curved brush. The bottle/tube feels fairly sturdy, but what with the fairly gloopy formula it could be quite difficult to get all of the formula out.

Close-up of the brush

The brush is the first curved one I've tried, and it's really good for lifting the lashes. Not hugely high-tech, but sometimes low-tech is the best solution. The only downside of the brush is that it makes doing the lower lashes quite difficult.

I really like the film strip design on the bottle, even if the pedantic side of me says that a film strip wouldn't go on a cone...

Does it live up to its promises?

These fabulous mascaras have a clever curved wand that will give your lashes a long-lasting lift and voluptuous volume from day to night. They are smudge-proof and promise to leave you saying good-bye to panda eyes.

By accentuating your natural eye colour, you’ll never feel the need to hide from the camera again.

"Thanks to the angled brush of this mascara it creates the most dramatic effect by lifting and curling the lashes. The best thing about this mascara is the intense pigment in the formula that accentuates the colour of your iris, brightening your eyes making them bigger and your lashes full of life”.

 I would say that this mascara does live up to most of its promises.

• long-lasting lift - yes, this mascara lasts AGES.
• voluptuous  volume - um, maybe. Each individual lash maybe.
• smudge-proof - yes! I wore this mascara for a party on Saturday night and when I got home there was no smudging at all. Nada.
• accentuating natural eye colour - maybe. I like to think so. It's certainly less harsh a black than the usual black mascaras and less 'meh' than the brown ones. So I like the colour.
• lifting and curling the lashes - yeah, pretty much, thanks to the ginormous curved brush.

Who would like this product?
Anyone with eyelashes, I think! Although it's not a waterproof mascara, it lasts really well. Also anyone looking for something between a brown and a black mascara. It's a really good all-round mascara.

Would I repurchase this?
Definitely! It is fairly gloopy which means it might dry up quicker than some other mascaras, but I really like it.

• Collection Extreme 24H Felt Tip Eye Liner - Black
• 17 Photo Flawless Lashes - Black/Copper or Black-Gold (the same thing, the website calls it Black-Gold but on the tube it says Black/Copper)
• 17 Pure Finish Sheer Mineral Blusher - Plum
• Rimmel 1000 Kisses Lip Tint - Carry on Cherry

What's your favourite mascara?

Review - Sainsbury's 2 in 1 strawberry shampoo

At first glance, this review shouldn't belong on a 'serious, grown up' (though let's not lie, when am I ever serious or grown up) beauty blog. It's a £1.10 kids' combined shampoo and conditioner.

But I'll let you into a secret here: It's fab!

I only use this for holidays/ after swimming when I don't want the fuss of separate shampoo and conditioner, as it's more expensive than my standard shampoo and conditioner (this is £1.10 for 250ml, I'm a cheapskate, I know), but it's really good.

I first picked it up a couple of years ago for a holiday for which I had to pack really light, but decided it was much better than I expected.

It conditions hair really well, and the scent is lovely.

Packaging

This shampoo comes in a squeezy-ish bottle, which is fairly standard, but it has enough swagger to its shape that it's easy to keep a grip on when wet, and it fits into the hand fairly well. A minor thing, I know, but an important one. The only downside is that as the bottle is completely opaque it's impossible to know how much you have left in the bottle.

Does it live up to its promises?

Sainsbury's Strawberry 2in1 conditioning shampoo has a mild and gentle formula specially developed for your little monsters! Avoid bath time traumas - cleans and de-tangles in one easy step! Leaves hair feeling soft, shiny and smelling Berry-licious! Suitable for all hair types

Right, ignoring the slightly patronising tone and overexcited use of superfluous exclamation marks (I'll put the grammar nerd back in her box now, don't worry), by and large this shampoo does live up to what it promises to do. I have yet to get it in my eyes, and much as I love you guys, I'm not going to do that on purpose just to see what happens... It does de-tangle quite well, though. While my hair is quite short at the moment, it still tangles really easily, and this shampoo copes quite well - I remember it working well when I had long hair too.

It does definitely leave hair soft - I keep stroking my hair after I use this shampoo, and there's also a little something of the scent left (which is a really nice, fruity scent) even nearly two days after the wash. It doesn't leave hair particularly shiny, though, or at least not by itself. If you then blow-dry and straighten the hair it looks really shiny and lovely, but if you just towel-dry it, it isn't particularly shiny.

Who would like this product?

Anyone in a rush, or going to the gym/swimming pool, or packing light for a holiday. Also anyone who has difficult tangly hair.

Would I repurchase it?

I already have! I'm halfway through my second bottle, with the next ready and waiting.

And in other news....

I'm doing a one mile swim for Sport Relief on April 27th, and it would be very much appreciated if you could sponsor me, even just fifty pence - every little helps! In Bangladesh, many children lose their lives every year when monsoon season comes around because they can't swim - so Sport Relief are trying to raise money to teach them, so that they can escape the monsoon rain. Sponsor me here :)

What's your best surprise buy?

And have you done any form of sport for charity?

NOTD and review: 17 Lasting Finish 'Glisten'

Do you ever have moments where something doesn't work how you thought it would, but you like it better that way? That's what I'm thinking about this nail polish.

I thought it would be a bit duochrome-y, which it isn't really. There's a very slight gold/pink gradient, but most of the time you just see the golden colour, and it's lovely!

Packaging

Fairly standard for a nail varnish, it has a nice long handle on the lid/brush which is good for ease of application.

The bottle contains 8ml, which is the same amount as in the Rimmel 60 second varnishes.

Does it live up to its promises?

This product promises to deliver up to 5 days of shine.

It is very shiny, yes, and the colour does stay on really well. I've had it on since Friday at this point, and while I've had to 'fix' some of the nails, the fix lasts well and blends in, as well as drying very quickly.

I did get bubbles on one nail where I didn't let the coat below dry fully, but the others look fairly perfect.

A downside is that it's very sheer, which could make it really good for syrup nails, and since it dries so quickly it's not an issue that it takes a good three or four layers for full opacity.

It also looks good with one layer over a solid colour.

Something I like about this colour is that it's fairly close to my skin colour, meaning that although this is a little bit of a 'party' colour it actually looks appropriate for anything.

Would I repurchase it?

I would, yes, and I'd consider purchasing others from the range. It sells for £2.99 and is currently on 3 for 2 with the rest of the 17 range.

Long-lasting FOTD and review of Collection Extreme 24H Felt Tip Eye Liner

Often, I see Face Of The Day posts and think 'really? And how long did that last?' so I thought I'd post today's with a picture taken at half past nine, fourteen hours after putting on my make-up.

Products used:

• 17 BB Cream (most definitely still there, I used a cleansing wipe just after taking this picture and it came off onto it)
• Collection Shimmer Squares in Way to Glow (as above)
• Rimmel 1000 Kisses lip stain and balm (this I reapplied throughout the day, but the last time was at about 3pm, so this is still six hours' wear)
• Hello Kitty and Liberty eyeshadow palette
• Collection Extreme 24H Felt Tip Eye Liner Pen (still looking pretty much as new)
• Natural Collection LashCurl mascara in black.

And now the product review:

Packaging

It comes looking like a simple black marker pen - the end of the pen is a different colour depending on which colour you buy. It comes in black, teal, purple and blue. I had it in real about a year ago and lost it, and my mum has it in purple, but it is in black that this liner is indispensable. The lid fits nice and securely, which means the product doesn't dry out too quickly

Does it live up to its promises?

Be bold, bright and beautiful! The fast-drying versatile felt tipped pens give your makeup look an instant burst of colour.

Easy-to-apply felt tip nib for all day long lustrous looking eyes.

Obviously the instant burst of colour isn't applicable for black, but it is very quick to apply.

I totally agree with the easy to apply label, if I can do it, anyone can.

All day long - well, just look at the photo above! It's not even easy to remove with makeup wipes - even though mine say they tackle waterproof mascara. Maybe if I used my eye makeup remover pads they would work? On the odd days when I forget to take my makeup off, my liner is still ready to go the next morning.

It looks equally good when worn as a thin line or 'like Cleopatra' as my uncle put it. It also works quite well for the waterline.

Would I repurchase it?

I already have! Best of all, it's only £2.99!

Review: Garnier Belle Color hair dye in shade 6 - Light Brown, and FOTD

Naturally, my hair is a very very boring very very dark brown - so dark that there isn't really any colour so I wanted to take it up a few colour levels (I'd say I'm naturally a 2 or 3, where 10 is white blonde and 1 is black).

In the middle of December I dyed it the violet from Schwarzkopf's Salon Style range, which was a level 3 colour. So that's what the dye had to cope with.

Method

It's the standard colour cream into developer bottle situation, and there was a lot of product! As my hair grows back out it'll be interesting to see at what point it doesn't feel like there is enough, but there was pretty much surplus product.

There was a bit of an 'aargh what am I doing?!' moment when I saw that the cream + developer solution was a pale yellow, but it was fine in the end, as you can see.

A good thing about this colour was that it washed out quite quickly - last time I dyed my hair it took forever, and two or three washes after I dyed it I was still getting stains on the bath towel - this time, nothing, even though I wasn't rinsing for as long as I'd like to (the hot water ran out).

It also smells lovely. I think the little sachet of conditioner must be from the Garnier Fructis range because it smelled so delicious.

Once I'd used that conditioner I also used a bit of the Percy & Reed conditioner I got free with Glamour, to amp up the softness a bit more

In conclusion, five out of five - my hair feels lovely and soft, and still smells nice.

One odd thing I noticed - on the instructions, after rinsing and conditioning it directs you to 'style as normal' - who dyes their hair before going out for the day?!

Face of the day - products used:

• Elf eyelid primer
• Rimmel Colour Rush Quad in Urban Flower
• 17 Solo Eyeshadow in Green Glimmer
• 17 Photo Flawless eye pencil in Copper/Black
• Natural Collection LashCurl Mascara in Black
• 17 Sheer Finish Mineral Blush in Plum
• Natural Collection Cream Blush in Rosy Pink
• Elf blush in Shy
• Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in One of a Kind
• Benefit Watt's Up highlighter

FOTD: Sensational Sixties and review of 17 Pure Finish Sheer Mineral Blusher

Products used:

• Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in One Of A Kind
• 17 Pure Finish Sheer Mineral Blusher in Plum
• Collection Shimmer Shades Blushalicious (review here)
• Collection Extreme 24Hr Felt Tip Liner

And a review of the blusher!

This blusher sells for £4.69 from Boots, and comes in three shades - I have 'Plum'

I've had this blusher for a while and I really haven't used it enough - it was my first non-palette blusher, and I was really looking for a cream blusher, which I found soon after and so then didn't use this.

Packaging

The packaging of this is really useful for travel - it has its own brush built in. That's also useful because it means that you can't accidentally use a brush with a different shade of blusher in. The disadvantages, though, are that the brush is slightly scratchy, and that it's impossible to wash the brush. Also, on first use, it can take a while to coax the blusher through the brush.

The packaging is also very robust, which I like - it's Lily-proof.

Does it live up to its promises?

On the packaging it says the product has a 'Super-sheer and lightweight formulation'

Whether it's sheer or not really depends on how heavy-handed you are, obviously, but I have found it quite difficult to get a sheer wash. The flush it does produce, though, is lovely!

I certainly agree with the 'lightweight' tag - the blusher feels really nice on the cheeks.

Would I repurchase?

YES! I think I might purchase it in Rose, though, as the Plum is a little too red - though maybe it won't be when I'm more tanned.

FOTD: to the power of two, and review of Elf Shimmering Facial Whip.

This FOTD is so titled because there are two (at least) products used for each section of my face. Also because this post effectively serves two purposes - it's a FOTD post, and it's a short review of one product I used - elf Shimmering Facial Whip in Persimmon

Eyes:

• Elf Shimmering Facial Whip in Persimmon (more on this later)
• Elf eyeshadow in Wisteria (I hit pan on this yesterday, how exciting, my first pan ever)
• Collection Extreme 24h Eyeliner (formerly Collection 2000 of course)

Lips:

• Maybelline Colour Sensational lip stain in Flushing
• Boots No7 High Shine lipgloss in Whisper (layered over the top to give more shine once it had dried.

Face:

• Elf Shimmering Facial Whip in Persimmon
• Collection Shimmer Squares in Way To Glow.
• Boots Natural Collection Neutral Translucent Loose Powder.

And now for the review

I'm afraid this is a rather short review, mainly because I haven't used this product much. The formula and scent are lovely, but it's just too pale for me - I can use it as a highlighter, for which it's okay, and I would do that instead of taking my Benefit Watt's Up on holiday, but it doesn't really work as a blusher on me. If they made this in a darker pink, I would so be there, but they don't. I might invest in it in Citrus though, as I like the formula and I think that colour would get more use.

It's designed as colour you can use on your eyes, lips, or face.

I only tried eyes for the first time today and, again, while the formula is nice, the colour is a little off. It worked well as a base for Wisteria powder eyeshadow though, so I think I shall continue using it for that.

Lips: it's too pale for my skin or tastes. Just looks a bit frosted.

Face: as I said above, it's just too pale to use for anything but a highlighter,

I think this product would work really well for anyone with pale skin, and I look forward to trying it in Citrus.

It sells for £1.50 from elf's website.

Review: Neal's Yard Rehydrating Rose Daily Moisture

Free with Marie-Claire this month, which retails at £3.70, is this face moisturiser from Neal's Yard. As my Mum always says, it's only free if you actually want it, and would pay the price to get it. I wouldn't usually spend £4 on a mascara, hence why I didn't buy Elle when it had Soap & Glory's mascara free with it. I would, however, spend £3.50 at least on a face moisturiser - so I did!

On the left in this picture is the free moisturiser, and on the right the moisturiser I have been using and therefore what all the comments are made in light of, really.

First, price. Obviously this tube of the Neal's Yard moisturiser was free, for 45ml, but the full size product would cost £22.50 for 100ml. The Neutrogena costs £5 for 50ml, so would be £10 for 100ml. Because of this price difference, you would expect the Neal's Yard to definitely be the better moisturiser. But is it?

Well, it obviously smells nicer, and I do like the subtly flowery smell - though if I wore very modern non-floral scented perfume, it might clash. The Neutrogena doesn't have a smell - or, at least, it has that non-perfume 'moisturiser' smell, which I'm not a big fan of.

Next, drying time. This is very important if I'm going to use a moisturiser every day - and the Neal's Yard moisturiser was great on this. No more waiting after moisturising to apply makeup - pretty much moisturise and go. By contrast, the Neutrogena takes forever to absorb into the skin - so much so that I end up using it before I go to bed rather than in the morning.

This all sounds very good for my free moisturiser, but there are three points which mean I won't repurchase it:

1. Moisturising action. It works fine on my cheeks, sure, but actually it makes the skin on my forehead (where it is driest) feel tight. When I touch that skin it does feel soft, which makes a change to normal, so maybe the effect just takes time to filter down, or maybe the feeling tight is just my forehead muscles getting used to softer skin - yes, I know that's scientific baloney. So overall this has good moisturising action, but not great, which brings me onto my next point.
2. Price. I'm just not in the market to spend that much on a moisturiser when I have a perfectly good one already - even if the Neutrogena can't fully deal with the dry patch on my forehead, there are other moisturisers around at that price point (such as the dry skin formula of that moisturiser) which might be able to - I'll only repurchase the Neal's Yard if I can't find any moisturiser at a lower price per 100ml that I prefer.
3. Size - a 100ml bottle is fine for on the dressing table, but you can't take it on holiday very easily. Plus with its sticky-out pump handle, it doesn't look particularly robust.

Normally I'd wait for longer before publishing a skincare review, but I thought it would be helpful to publish it while the April 2012 issue of Marie Claire is on sale for a while longer. Overall - a good moisturiser, but not one I'll repurchase.

(and the magazine's pretty good this month, even if I can't afford any of the fashion)

Review: Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstain in 350 'Blushing'

I had been wanting a lip stain for ages and decided on this one. I wouldn't use the integrated balm in some of the lip stain products like Revlon"s Just Bitten, so I avoided those ones. There werent many testers for Max Factor's one, and I couldn't find a colour I'd wear enough - red would be cool, yes, but I'm not brave enough for it. That'll come as celebration when I've lost the weight I'm trying to get rid of.

Packaging

It's a sturdy marker pen, really. I like it - some packagings feel very flimsy, but this doesn't. It does annoy me that it's the American spelling of colour, but hey ho, it's an American brand after all.

Does it live up to its promises?

The Boots website says:

Tint lips with sheer matte colour for a fresh barely there feel. New pen builds for precise buildable colour that lasts!

Why You'll Love It

A fresh new sensation in color:

• Sheer wash of color from water-based pigments

• Fresh, barely-there feel from vitamin-enriched berry nectar

Personally, I really like the product - I like that you can just put it on once, or do a few coats for a stronger colour. This shade is also one I like, a darkish pink that, as you can see in the photo below, looks fairly 'done' even without other make-up.

I agree with them saying the pen is precise - in contrast to lipsticks and glosses, it's very easy to just get the colour where you want it.

The smell is nice - minty and sweet, a bit like dentists' surgeries (are they called surgeries for dentists?)

So far, yes, it does live up to its promises - though I'll have to see how it fares with continued use. It is slightly drying, though, so a balm afterwards might help - I've also heard a lipgloss on top works.

Would I repurchase?

From my experience so far I'll have to say yes, definitely - it's exactly what I wanted

This lip stain sells for £5.99

Review - Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in Blushalicious

It's been hailed as a dupe of Nars' Deep Throat Blush.

It's been compared to Givenchy's Le Prisme Blush.

But what's the fuss about with Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades Blush? Here I'll review the blusher palette and then I'll review the bronzer at a later date.

Here are the colours swatched separately - but one of the best things about this blush is how the colours look all mixed together - it's a really lovely pink that produces a natural-looking flush.

This blusher sells for £4.19 from everywhere that stocks Collection 2000 - Boots, Superdrug, Morrisons... the list goes on. Often there are 3 for 2 deals, so it might be worth waiting for one if you want to get this.

Packaging

As you can see, it comes in a chunky clear plastic block that's about 8cm square and a centimetre thick. Admittedly, not particularly high-end looking, and no mirror for on-the-go application (but who does blusher on the go anyway...?) but it's durable and you can easily see what's in it. If I ever use this blusher up I'm going to use the casing to put elf custom elements in - it's just that durable.

Another good thing about this packaging is the catch. It feels securely shut, so you could be sure you wouldn't get blusher all over your make-up bag/ handbag/ suitcase, but it's not so tricky to open that it hurts your nail polish.

Does it live up to its promises?

On the Boots website, it says:

Release the shimmer queen in you, and create a soft glow that lasts all day long with new Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades. These delightful little compacts will give you a sun kissed, radiant glow normally associated with spending time under the exotic sun.

With two palettes to choose from, prepare to dazzle as the four merged blocks combine shimmer with shade for a multi-tonal and natural blend of colour.

There is one part of that promise that doesn't ring true - this blusher is not at all shimmery. I was worried that the shimmer would make it difficult to wear, but as there isn't any it doesn't. The bronzer palette is slightly less matte, though.

They're certainly not lying when they say the product lasts all day long - I wore it yesterday for a party involving lots of dancing and screaming the words of 90s songs, and it was still there when I got home. I was impressed!

The 'multi-tonal' part is certainly true - one thing I like is that I can lightly swipe a mixture of the bottom two shades around the jaw to serve almost as a bronzer - for a tiny bit of amateur contouring.

Would I repurchase?

Well, to be honest with you, I doubt I'll ever finish this - there's a stonking great 12 grammes of product there. But if I did use this up, I would definitely repurchase it. Lily likey.

(Other products worn in that photo: elf 32 shade eyeshadow palette, elf shimmer eye pencil in Plum Passion, 17 Ultimate Volume lipgloss in Very Berry)

Review: Simple 'Spotless Skin Quick Fix' cleansing wipes

I have used up the wipes I was using (more on that in my Project Pan update on Sunday) and I had these in store ready to go, and here's a review from first use.

I picked these up on a multibuy deal, but the normal price is £3.85 for 25 wipes, which is a lot of money, so I'll be reviewing with that in mind. I chose these ones specifically because they say they're good at reducing and preventing spots, and although I'm very lucky with my skin in general, I have recently been getting some spots, so these wipes should help. I also chose them because they promised to remove waterproof mascara, which I wear quite a lot.

Packaging

Fairly standard for wipes really - I like the colour which is much more vibrant in real life than it looks in that photo. The logo patch thing on the front is cool, looks really swirly. (technical term, there).

On the packaging these wipes promise to:

• Remove waterproof mascara
• Have spot fighting ingredients which give results from Day 1
• Be naturally antibacterial
• Have no perfume or colour
• Be kind to sensitive skin

Do they live up to the promises?

I haven't yet worn waterproof mascara since I've been using these, but I have been wearing my Collection 2000 Extreme 24 Hour Eyeliner, which I find actually tougher to remove than waterproof mascara. These wipes dealt with it really well; I was impressed.

The spot fighting ingredients are Zinc PCA and Chamomile, which it says absorb excess oils and soothe the skin. While my skin does feel a little clearer, it also feels a bit drier than it would normally in the morning (I use wipes in the evening, and do the whole moisturising thing in the morning, usually), which I guess is because oils have been absorbed away from my skin.

I did wonder why face wipes needed to be antibacterial, but apparently the Phytosphingosine helps to fight spots and blemishes. This is something that I'll have to observe over a longer period of time, I think.

While these wipes most definitely have no colour (unless you get all deeply philosophical and say white is a colour...), they do have a slight scent. They just smell of 'clean' to me, a little bit similar to Boots' own brand cucumber hand wipes. I like the smell, personally.

I would definitely agree with these being kind to sensitive skin. Maybe it's just the jump from those harsher Primark wipes I was using, but these just felt really soft and soothing on my skin. Smooth rather than the slight sting and rough feel I had with the other wipes.

Would I repurchase?

If I saw these on offer, I would definitely repurchase, but I wouldn't pay £3.85 for them.

Review : Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish - Shade 610, Pompous

This nail varnish is definitely my favourite, so I thought it would make a good first review.
I bought it on a whim to match a dress I was wearing for a Hallowe'en party, and have worn it almost constantly since. I used to be a Barry M nail paint devotee, but that's all changed.
As you can see in the swatch, it's sparkly, which is always fun for nails, especially during the holidays and for parties. The sparkles in this polish, though, are quite subtle, and just add to the catching-the-light effect.
So now we now that I love how it looks - is it actually any good?
Yes!
It doesn't fully dry in the 60 seconds suggested by the packaging and name, and nor can I get the full colour payoff in the one coat stated on the bottle, but it's darned good. It dries almost fully in a couple of minutes, and enough to put the necessary second coat on very quickly - usually, by the time I've put he first coat on my second hand, the first hand is ready for the second coat.
Durability is a key issue for nail varnish, and one I can report back on with a smile on my face with regards to this polish. I've had this polish last three or four days with only tiny nicks before, and since it dries so quickly, touch-ups aren't an issue. For some polishes, I've noticed that due to slight colour variations it's very obvious where I've 'mended' the polish, but for this polish it isn't. Presumably it would last even longer if I could be bothered to put a topcoat on it.
Also, and this is a big bonus for such a dark polish, it doesn't seem to stain my nails when it comes off.
This polish sells at £3.69, and in my opinion is definitely worth it.
http://www.boots.com/en/Rimmel-60-Seconds-Nail-Polish_867420/