May favourites

This month has definitely been one of trying new products and getting to grips with older ones or testing new combinations.

T-B- NYX cream blush in "Natural", Beauty UK blush in Royal Rose.

My NYX cream blush has become an everyday staple for a dewy finish to an everyday face. It adds a healthy tint whilst remaining in place pretty much all day. I've been using one of the new baked blushes by Beauty UK which I'm a big fan of, it's very pigmented with some fine shimmer to it, and it complements the NYX blush well enough to use on top just to add a bit of extra kick to the colour or keep it on for longer.

Ooh la la Naked is a wonderfully creamy moisturising body wash with a heavenly scent that makes me want to eat it and produces mountains of creamy lather when used with a shower scrunchie (buff puff/ mesh-thingy... Everyone calls them a different thing!) 


Naked's Perfect Getaway cream cleanser is something I've been using everyday for the last week and a bit and so far it's pretty much perfect. I don't use it quite as the directions suggest (smoothing on and removing with a cotton pad) but use it like a hot cloth cleanser which seems to be working well. Full review on this to come once I've been using it for longer! 

Max Factor Experience Weightless Foundation - I'd seen Fee @ Makeup Savvy rave about this foundation and I love, love, love it! The coverage is amazing, for general blemishes I don't need anything extra but spots do require either a tiny bit extra foundation (which can be built up without looking at all cakey) or a dab of concealer. It visibly perks up my skin leaving it looking smooth and perfect whilst not looking like I'm wearing a heavy foundation or feeling as though I'm wearing anything on my skin at all! It lasts all day, doesn't need any powder on my normal-combination skin and is what I'd describe as a satin finish. This is definitely a must have and something I'll be sticking with. I actually got hold of this for £6 including postage on ebay instead of the Boots £10 price after swatching instore for a colour match.

elf Studio cream eyeliner- after quite a number of months of this being my only used eyeliner the top of this started to dry up and made application difficult and a bit messy. Having started to burrow down past the top layer of drier eyeliner it's got a new lease of life and I'm back to using it every single day without fail. Such an amazing product for the tiny £3.50 price tag. 

elf Studio stipple brush- perfect for cream blushes and for a quick swirl in pigmented powder blushes too. 

Bourjois Delice de Poudre bronzer- a tiny price for a lot of bronzer! This smells delicately of chocolate which in my books can only be a good thing, it's just about totally matte though there is the odd bit of shimmer thrown in. It's great for evening out my chest and neck if my fake tan is starting to fade or for a bit of all over colour on my face, this is a really buildable powder ideal for us paler girls (mine's number 51 which is the lighter colour I believe). 

Nivea Daily Essentials oil free moisturising day cream is another new product, I was running low on my Simple oil balancing moisturiser and this was on offer in Tesco for £1.50 (usually £3) so I thought it was worth a try. If anything I prefer it to my Simple moisturiser, it's scented, which I like, and it's possibly a little more moisturising too, the formula is more creamy and less gel-like. Does a great job of keeping my skin from getting oily through the day and moisturises too!

17 Wild Curls is definitely my favourite everyday mascara (and that's not to say it doesn't deliver fierce curled lashes!) but with No7's exquisite curl mascara layered over it I'm left with even bigger lashes that are both volumised and lengthened. 

A long favourites post this month! Anything outstanding that you've used this month? Let me know!

x

Review: No7 Exquisite Curl

No7 mascaras have impressed me in the past, however I've not picked up any of their newer ones from the past few seasons as I've been relatively happy with my lower-end drugstore mascaras. This one was sent to me for review.


The newest offering from No7 is their "Exquisite Curl" mascara which claims to coax your lashes "to a more beautifully curved and volumised look, with long lasting curl", sounds good to me! I always used to curl my lashes until my eyelash curlers broke and the replacements just didn't cut it, ever since then I've demanded more from my mascaras; I want them to curl, lengthen, add volume and for all of this to STAY PUT for the whole day... Not much then ;)

The Exquisite Curl wand itself is curved to help curl lashes and has bristles which are quite densely packed, with one side having longer bristles than the other.


Application is easy enough, although I do seem to be having some issues with getting mascara on my eyelid which isn't normally a problem.. I'm putting this down to the brush shape which is a little unusual for me and bound to take a bit of getting used to!


Before...

After....

It definitely lengthens and curls, doesn't add a whole lot of volume but it's pretty rare to get everything in one! I really, really like this mascara and think it's well worth it's current £10 price tag- which is valid until the 23rd of Feb, after that it'll be £13.50 (or £8.50 with the £5 off vouchers that are regularly around). 

No7 also have a competition to win an exquisite pampering weekend including a make-over by none other than Lisa Eldridge! There are also 9 goodie bags to be won every week. For your chance to win all you need to do is upload a wink via picture or video to the No7 facebook page here! You've got until the 15th of February to get your entries in. 

Have you tried No7 mascara's before? Like the look of this one? 

x

17's wild curls mascara..

I picked this up the other day as I'm in need of a new mascara anyway and wanted to try a few different ones out.. Boots also currently have an offer on of 100 free Boots points when you buy it which is great!

Unfortunately I accidentally picked up Brown/Black which I wouldn't have chosen had I realised!

My usual mascara which I love is L'Oreal Telescopic mascara, which I reviewed here. I wasn't expecting Wild Curls to live up to this and I don't think it does, but it is pretty impressive given that it's £4 cheaper than the L'Oreal one. 

The packaging is great, it's nice to see something different and leopard print certainly does that! 

The brush is an ordinary one with bristles, it's quite straight and flat and the bristles aren't too long so you don't end up poking yourself in the eye with them. The mascara itself is quite wet, I imagine in a month or so it'll suit me better and be easier to apply. I have had a slight problem with this making my lashes clump together, which is quite unusual but I'm putting that down to how liquidy the mascara is (not that it is a liquid, it's just much more wet than the other couple of mascara's I've got- one of which is quite new too.)

Overall though the effect is very impressive..

One coat of Wild Curls on my right eye, and nothing on my left.

two coats.

As you can see it lifts lashes and adds volume but also lengthens them too! 

What are your favourite bargain mascaras?

Rachel xx

L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara Review!

As anyone who's taken any notice of the items used in my EOTD posts will know, L'Oreal's Telescopic mascara is my all time favourite. I love love love it! It's not anything new, but I think it's one that's easily overlooked.

Up until using this mascara I'd only ever spent £6/7 on a mascara and it was only after complimenting one of my mum's friends on her mascara (who then bought it for me for my birthday!) that I'd considered there might be anything better. I already have quite long, dark eyelashes, so mascara has always been about definition and volume for me. 

What L'Oreal say:

In a flash of a stroke... Up to 60% longer looking lashes and intensity lash by lash... The high-precision flexible multi-comb is made of supple elastomer bristles that help give a precise application. The flat surfaces of the multi-comb stretch the formula from the roots of your lashes right through to the tips, making them look up to 60% longer.

It definitely does make my lashes look longer and defined, I also think that it adds volume and curl for me. 

Before and after pictures...

I always think that I don't look awake until I've got my mascara on ;)

L'Oreal Telescopic mascara is available from Boots for £9.99

Rach xx