Seventeen BackLash Mascara

A while back now I dabbled with Seventeen, and fell in love with their HD Falsifeye mascara. After that, my interest in the brand became somewhat addictive and I ended up purchasing a handful of products (most I have given to my sister after a few uses because they just weren't for me...stupid impulse buys).  One product however, really did win a place in my heart, and yes, it was another mascara.  Seventeen just seem to do incredible things when it comes to their mascaras - this time with was the Seventeen Back Lash mascara (£6.49).

The brush is perfection. It's packed full of tiny bristles, that help to catch every lash and coat them evenly, and the formula is a winner for everyday use. It doesn't flake, or irritate eyes and can be removed super easily, with no uncomfortable tugging or rubbing. 

The size of the brush could be a little offputting to some, however I found it really easy to use and move around the shape of my eye, without causing any mess or accidentail stabbings. 

I found it really helps to lift the lashes and separate them, and get right into the base to give that added wide awake look.  Teamed with a good pair of eyelash curlers, this little beauty could become a constant staple for me.  

Maybelline Forever Strong SuperStay Gel Nail Colour

Gel nail polishe became all the rage a while back, when the formula promised some amazing results. I'm pleased to see that high street brands are jumping on the band wagon, and starting to produce gel polishes to rival the more bigger, and even professional nail names in the business. 

Maybelline have never been a brand I've looked to for nail products, however their display in my local Boots caught my eye recently, and had me reaching for the Forever Strong SuperStay Gel Nail Color in Nude Rose (£4.49). 

I instantly loved the dusky pink colour of this polish. It's one that I had been searching for, for a while without even reaslising I was doing it (is that even a thing?), and the price point was really good, when you compare it to other gel polish offerings on the high street...under a £5, yes please! 

Application is really great, because of the fan shaped brush it's made it easy to pretty much cover the whole nail area in one sweep.  You will need more than one coat to get a nice solid, opaque finish - with this particular shade I found three coats to get a good colour.  

The gel nail colour is advertised to have a 7 day lasting time, which is really where it fell short for me because after having it on for a few hours, it had already started to chip, which something I've never experienced before. I know that a good quality top coat is always advised when painting nails to extend their life span, however I think when it comes to gel nail polishes, the forumla really shouldn't be flaking away after such a short time - it  may just be my individual bottle, or a problem with that shade, but I will be testing out another colour soon so I'm hoping it's a one off.

Have you tried any of the polishes from this line at Maybelline? 

Top 5 Drugstore Cream Blushes

I have a very love/hate relationship with blush.  Sometimes I can forgo it from my routine without much of a second thought and then other times, just that little perk of pink can change my look instantly - it's always something that has me questioning why I'm not more consistent with it. 

Because of this reason, I'm a bit stricter with buying high end blushes and I tend to stick to more budget friendly options, in a cream or gel forumla.  

L-R: Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blush - Charmed; Max Factor Miracle Touch Creamy Blush - Soft Pink; Topshop Cream Blush - Afternoon Tea; No 7 Pop and Glow Blush Stick - Classic Rose; and Seventeen Cheek and Lip Stain - Perky Pink. 

I'm not an overly huge fan of powder blushes, mainly because I haven't found one where I like the finish as much as gel, or cream ones can achieve.  I also find these formulas much easier to blend out and give a more natural look, or build up for a more striking appearance. 

The most expensive of the bunch (and my favourite, surprise surprise) is the No 7 Pop and Glow blush stick (£9.95) as it's well pigmented, super easy to use and blends in really well to give a natural, perky look. 

The Topshop Cream Blush (£7.00) is also a very well pigmented and comes at a very reasonable price point. The colour stays for ages too and a little of the product goes a very long way. 

The Max Factor Miracle Touch blush (£6.99) has such a beautiful dewy finish to it, it can really help to add a bit of a pick me up to tired, dry skin. The colour pay off if very natural but can be built up, and the pot is so small that it's easy to squeeze in a make up bag. 

Revlon really do no wrong when it comes to face products, and their PhotoReady Cream Blush (£7.99) is a great example. The texture and finish is slightly dryer than the average cream blush, but it looks beautiful when applied and blended into the skin. 

For a more budget friendly blush, the Seventeen Cheek and Lip Stain (£4.99) is worth a try if you're new to wet formal blushes. Not technically a cream I know but it still gives a really nice tinted sheen to the cheeks (and lips!). 

What are your favourite drugstore blushes?

Herbal Essence does dry shampoo?

Herbal Essence is a brand that's been around since before I can remember.  I do find their products a bit hit and miss at times, especially their conditioners, but that's a whole other post.  I did do a little jump of joy though, when I saw that they'd released a trio of dry shampoos.  

I picked up two of the three as that's all that was left when I was browsing the shelves.  The Ignite My Colour dry shampoo (£2.99, 189ml) is, as you can guess, aimed towards coloured hair and is lightly rose scented. It promises to transform coloured, lifeless hair, while still cleansing and helping to banish greasy roots.  Out of the two I can say that this one is my favourite in terms of results, but not so much with the scent, it's just one that lingers but not in a good way.  The Uplifting Volume dry shampoo (£2.99, 180ml) however smells incredible - it's really fruity without being too sweet or cloying, but the forumla just didn't do it for me, it made my hair feel a bit chalky and too stiff. It's would be great for adding texture and volume to quite fine, thin hair however. 

As always with a dry shampoo, both cans need to be shaken up quite well, and hen once sprayed into the hair, make sure you give your scalp a good ol' rub to get the products worked in well, without and left over residue. 

The forumla is really good at banning greasiness, and keeping it at bay the following day too if needs be.  I applied mine to two day old hair, and then the next day I just went on as I usually would without having to reapply.  Washing out is easy too, it just comes straight out without any need to rinse and repeat with your usual shampoo. 

The packaging is my only problem as, travel wise, they're not too friendly.  They're quite narrow cans, but very tall so they do tend to take up a bit of extra space - hopefully there will be some smaller cans to come? 

Top 5 Drugstore Liquid Liners

'I love a good liquid liner.  A thin line on my top lid and a flash of mascara is pretty much my go to day to day look.  

(L-R - Bourjois Liner Pinceau, Max Factor Colour Xpert, Rimmel Exaggerate, L'Oreal Superliner and Rimmel Glam Eyes) 

There are an abundance of liquid liners out there, and the drugstore has some not too shabby options for pretty good prices.  When we can't afford that gorgeous Tom Ford liner, then the next best option is to find one at a more purse friendly price, that won't leave you eating toast for the rest of the month.

I'm going to start with my all time favourite of the bunch the Bourjois Liner Pinceau (£6.99), the brush applicator is perfect for applying just the right amount of product and I found this excellent for wobbly hand syndrome.  The formula doesn't flake and it dries down instantly to a matte finish. 

At the opposite end of the scale on formula, the Max Factor Colur Xpert (£6.99) liner is a lot shinier in finish with a much more opaque colour and a firmer nib top which can make precision a bit trickier if you're a newbie. 

The Rimmel Exaggerate (£5.29) is one that I see a lot of people loving on, and I must admit the forumla is pretty amazing, it's the blackest black, matte and it really doesn't budge but I'm not so keen on the applicator, personally I find it a little bit awkward to get a good line, close to the lashes. I tend to use the Real Techniques silicon liner brush to apply as I just find it a lot easier. 

The L'Oreal SuperLiner (£6.99) on the other hand has a pretty great applicator, a soft foam nib that gives a soft line with no fuss. My only gripe here is that the formula could do with just being a bit more opaque. However the line that does come out lasts a good 8 hours without flaking or fading and it's brilliant for sensitive eyes. 

Lastly is another Rimmel favourite amoungst the masses, it's the popular GlamEyes liner (£5.29). It has a super, super fine brush applicator which let's you get right up close to the lash line, and build up and wing out if that's the look you're going for. 

Overall, all 5 have their good and bad points but really are great quality for the price and application ease. 

Can Phil Smith Rescue my Hair?

Supermarkets are brilliant places to scour for bargains, or even lesser known brands.  Sainsburys was my place of choice on rainy afternoon (no surprise there England!), the one nearest to me has just had a brand new facelift, and a shed load of new brands injected into their health and beauy isles.  

The one I gravitated towards was the Phil Smith line, with it's brightly coloured tubes and bottles, it was like a moth to the flame. 

The SOS Rescue range enticed me in most, because of the ever popular mention of the Moroccan Argan oil content.  With claims to help frazzled, frequently styled hair I thought I really had nothing to lose by giving it a whirl - the ends of my hair are looking particularly sorry for themselves lately despite my recent cut. 

I picked up the Damage Protection Shampoo (£3.50) and the Damage Protection Conditioner (£3.50) in the hope that my hair might start to love me again. 

First of all let me tell you about the scent, because my-oh-my they both smell incredible. It's like a soft, warm scent with just the right hint of a professional blow dry about it. I literally kept swishing my hair around for hours afterwards just to get a whiff of it again. 

I was really impressed with the shampoo, it lathered up instantly and I really felt like it got to every inch of my scalp, right through to my ends.  Rinsing out was easy too, and I felt like it actually left me hair feeling nicely moisturised. The conditioner was where I hit a worry though as the formula was just a bit thinner than I was expecting (think more along the lines of a body lotion consistency).  I felt like I had to use a fair amount to get it on all over, and when I washed it out my hair didn't feel like I'd had anything on it at all.

I thought styling was going to be a nightmare, and I assumed because my hair didn't feel very conditioned that once dried, it was going to be knotty and dry. 

Well...I was wrong. It was a bit of a pain to brush through at first but once I'd got the tangles out the rest of it was a breeze, and I actually felt like my drying time was significantly less than usual.  Afterwards my hair felt soft and managable, a far cry from what I was expecting really. I did find that it got a tad knotty again just before I needed to wash it, but it was nothing a tangle geezer couldn't sort out. 

The Phil Smith range is available in Sainsburys in stores and online, currently on a 2 for £5.50 offer. 

Sleek Make Up - Vintage Romance Palette

Sleek make up has really put itself out there lately onto the beauty seen, especially with it's recent venture into Boots store, and online. One of my favourite products from them is their eyeshadow palettes. They're extraordinary quality and budget price point are really something that sings home to my beauty lover's heart. 

One of my braver purchases is their Vintage Romance palette (£7.99, Boots). Its chocked full of deep, yet vibrant jewel toned shades, which really compliment green and brown eyes wonderfully. I've never really been brave enough to wear bright colours on my eyes, however the shades in this palette are so wearable and can really make a smokey eye something special.

The pink and purple shades were really ones I worried about most, because pink is sometimes a no go with eyes, as it can make you look ill if worn wrong. However the tones in these shades are spot on, and the deeper one are perfect for crease work. The quality is brilliant, with each shade extremely pigmented and smooth to apply. There's no fall out of product either, so it makes application easy, especially for beginners and for day-to-day use.

A two ended sponge applicator is included with all palettes, however it's not my favourite tool to use and I find the shadows go on much better with brushes.  You can really pack on the shadows for smokey, full on feel with an ELF Eyeshadow Brush, or if you prefer they sheer out wonderfully with a fluffy blender brush like the Zoeva Luxe Define Crease Brush.  I've even found that the darker shades work wonderfully as liners for the eyes either dry or dampened down for a more intense look, using a Real Techniques Fine Liner Brush.

The wear-time of the shadows is fair, and can be prolonged with an eye primer which I would recommend anyway if you suffer with oily lids.  Removing the shadows is also pretty easy, even the darer shades come off with ease when using a make up remover.

Overall these palletes are incredible for the small price tag.  There are numerous of different collections within the palette range with amazing colours and unlimited looks.