A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I was very excited to see the promo image for this latest GOSH collection which has been out for a little while now.

The eyeshadow palette in particular caught my eye:

*sigh* Such beautiful taupes…

Unfortunately for me, the stock image looks nothing like the product.  Way to go Mr. GOSH product photographer/retoucher.

This is what the palette really looks like:

Black to White… hey, where did my lovely taupes go?

I can’t really bitch too much – I was sent this by the nice people at GOSH.

Well I can bitch, ‘cos that’s what I do when I don’t like something… so yeah… where the hell was I?

Oh yes, it’s often helpful if the promo images reflect the actual product, don’t you think?

Let’s have a look at the packaging and see if the palette can redeem itself.

Oooh, a tutorial.  I’m a sucker for these and always happy to receive some inspiration and direction!

This is really nice, sturdy casing… good job!

2 eyeshadow applicators and a big mirror… all good stuff.

How about the actual shadows themselves?

Disappointing really…

They feel chalky and they’re simillar to Sleek shadows in as much as they’re quite soft and crumbly.  Shadow dust will fly everywhere when picking up the colour with a brush.

That’s where the Sleek comparison ends.  Unlike Sleek these give very little payoff in terms of colour.  Wanna see?

That third grey from the left is a real bastard to get much out of. *swipe, swipe, swipe*.

Having said that… hand on my heart, I don’t mind at all in this instance.  I usually err on the side of heavy-handedness when it comes to applying eye shadows and with a palette of this nature, my looks usually end up all black and not much else.

The Sleek Graphite palette is a real bugger for this as it’s *so* pigmented I generally look like I have a pair of black eyes after using it.  This, on the other hand gives me the chance to build up the colour and stop short of Panda.

However, for most… I’m sure that this lack of pigmentation is not a good thing.  And if it were a palette of different shades, I’d most likely agree with you.

One more thing I will say though, is that it does state that you can use these eyeshadows wet… I shall give it a go and be back with a FOTD, you never know… it could be amazing – eternal optimist that I am!

I’ve heard great things about the nail polishes from this collection.  In general, I find GOSH Nail polishes to be *awesome* but I’m still dipping my big toe into the world of glitter polishes and don’t need another black so didn’t pick either of these up.

The Gosh Bright n’ Black Collection is available to buy from Superdrug and the eyeshadow palette is priced at £8.99

How have you been finding the collection?  Have you tried any other GOSH eyeshadows?

So, the ELF Studio Line has burst onto the scene with a variety of affordable makeup and the most interesting thing about it all to me is some of the innovation it’s brought with it.

I’m talking genuinely new, innovative products… that, and trying to knock high-end products down from their pedestals (HD Powder anyone? – p.s. how are you finding that?)

Introducing the Shimmer Palette.

It’s a palette of 4 shimmering iridescent cream shades that can be used to highlight wherever you choose to apply!

The ELF Studio Line packaging has been consistently good, more than slightly reminiscent of NARS… everything I’ve bought or been given has a solid feel to it and this is no exception.

The 4 shades included range from white through to a couple of peachy/gold colours ending with a pink.  All are very wearable shades.  Although I have no idea how they would look on deeper skintones.

The consistency of the creams are slightly greasy which means that they blend very easily but need setting to stop them sliding.  The colours are also surprisingly pigmented until you blend them out into a nice sheen.

You can see the iridescence in the shades in this swatch, I’ve tried using them on my cheekbones… I like.  I’ve tried using them on my eyelids… um, not so much like (too greasy).  I’ve yet to try them on my lips… I don’t really see the point.

Someone give me some more ideas of how to use!

You can see the colours a little better here.

So, overall ELF’s Shimmer Palette is a nice, fun product.  It’s easy to use and does what ELF intended it to do… add a bit of shimmer an sheen wherever it’s used.

I’m not sure that I’m going to reach for the palette that often, I don’t really have much need for it… however, I will be buying some as Xmas pressies for a couple of young teenage girls in the family.  I think it would be awesome for that “too young to wear full on slap – but wants to play with makeup regardless” age.

Have you tried ELF’s Shimmer Palette – what say you?

I’ve been playing with Sleek MakeUP’s new Luminous Pressed Powder which I was sent just over a week ago.

It’s designed to be swept all over your face for a glowing, illuminated effect.

The powder, which is available in 4 shades is packed full of tiny light-reflecting mica pigments.  These are visible in the pan, and whilst very fine – are indeed pretty sparkly!  Unfortunately, the pigments are too fine for my camera to pick up on.  I did try!

I received shade 02, which is far too dark for me to use as an all-over powder – not that that stopped me from trying of course.

Unfortunately, the shade just looked unnaturally dark on my skin.  I can however say that the mica pigments are just about subtle enough to be used all over without looking like a disco ball.

It’s ok!  You can put the dancing shoes away!

I found that it absorbed oil effectively and didn’t clump down the side of my nose as some heavier powders will.

As it’s a golden tone, I am currently using it as a light bronzer just to warm up my skin a little where the sun (if we had any) would touch.  I was a little nervous about putting an illuminating powder on my nose fearing that it may be seen from out of space, but so far visibility is staying below the stratosphere.

Packaging is nice for a budget item, other budget cosmetic companies could learn a thing or two from Sleek MakeUP’s consistently good quality casings.

You can dispense with the silly little powder puff and just use a large fluffy powder brush to pick up the product.

If shimmer ain’t your bag (baby), then I’d refrain from applying it all over and use it more as you would a MAC MSF.  Ooh, actually… bet it would look lovely swept over your decolletage too, it’s a bit more subtle than some products designed to draw a bit of attention to the old boobies.  Make you look less like a slapper and more like a subtley shimmery ladee.  Innit.

It’s a nice addition to the Sleek MakeUP line, it fits right in and is fairly priced at £5.99.

Cloud Nine got in touch to offer me a pair of their new straighteners for potential review and with a high maintenance chin length bob to tame every morning, I’m not ashamed to admit that I very nearly bit their hands off.

Now, I know that this is probably the 50th review you’ve read of these straighteners (no exaggeration), and I do apologise… so when I was putting them to the test, I tried to approach it from a slightly different angle.

I’m no expert hair straightener and I’m sure many of you would fall into this category too.  In all honesty, I’m far too busy worrying about how my makeup looks to care *too* much about my hair.  Obviously, I’d rather not look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards when I visit clients… but for me, it’s all about the eyeshadow.

Unfortunately, the dragged through a hedge backwards look is *exactly* the one I sport on my head when I wake up every morning.  Example? Oh ok, then…

So with this time-pressed, hair straightening novice method of review I wanted to present to you an 8 minute hair straightening challenge.

Why 8 minutes? Well, because that’s approximately how long I get before baby L. notices that I’m not right up there in her face singing songs and dancing like a loon for her entertainment.  I also figure that I can never be arsed to spend much longer on my hair in the mornings anyway.

Ready?  Let’s have a look at what I got sent first then…

Nicely presented packaging is always a good thing and the turquoise/black combination is very sophisticated.

GHDs hmmmm, I’m sure it’s a selling point… but Cloud Nine, you’re advertising those competitors of yours every step of the way!  I can’t read anything about you without someone, somewhere mentioning GHDs in the same breath.  Fair enough, but don’t you do it on your packaging too!

To me, that’s saying… “Look, we should be as good as 1st gen GHDs…”

Oh… well I’ll just go buy a set of GHDs then… these sound like they should be as good as, but I’ll play it safe and go for the tried and tested option.

Is that the best you can be?  Come on!  You’re Cloud Nine!  Be a tiger, grrrr….

*and breathe* sorry… but as you might be able to tell, I’m bored of the GHD comparisons already.

Right, what else does it say…

“Less heat, more style”, “…without the need for searing heat.”

Oh ok. well my straighteners are usually set at a hair-frazzling 230c, so I’ll keep that in mind for testing…

I’m all for secret ingredients…

Swivel Cord (boring), Heat Guard (whatever) – Next!

Universal Voltage (blah, blah – no actually.. that’s quite useful for international jet-setters such as myself *cough*), Hibernation Mode – so I don’t burn the house down (at least not with the straighteners), Box Contents – yep, the postman didn’t nick anything.  Good, good.. moving on…

Slide off the cardboard sleeve and you get…. another box!

Aha! Finally!

Still loving the turquoise.  Minimalism is ‘in’ it seems…

We want… we want… we want…

Is that all they could come up with?  What about peace among mankind?  I would at least have added a few Dior shadows to the list (no, I’m still not over them).

Variable heat settings – useful!

Sparkly shiny plates!!

I should at this point probably mention that build quality feels good.  It’s all sturdy stuff despite being surprisingly lightweight.

I also like how ’rounded’ the casing is… it makes for easier, smoother curling.  The plastic on the tips of the straighteners are grooved/ribbed which makes for an easy grip on the tips if curling with both hands on the barrel.

Everything you get…

Right, enough of that… let’s straighten!

I set the temperature to 150c (Less Heat More Style remember) and the Cloud Nine’s heated up in literally 5-10 seconds, which quite frankly is just showing off and actually didn’t give me enough time to find my straightening spray. Boo! 😉

Now listen up to this bit… It’s a negative and up ’till now my review has been a glowing one.

I thought that these dragged a bit.

Not a huge amount, not like my Remington Wet2Straight that I wanted to throw through the nearest window for literally pulling strands of hair from my poor screaming barnet.

However, I did feel a little bit of tugging especially when I reached the ends, they simply didn’t glide quite as easily as I would have hoped for £129 straighteners.  Ho hum.

Anyway, back to this whole 8 minute thing…

Ta-Da!  I like it… It’s not poker straight which I presume is ‘cos I’m using less heat… but that also means that it’s not completely flat and lacking in volume (which was the only end result I could get from my 230c ones).  It should also mean that my hair stays healthier despite frequent use.

I normally wash and blow dry my hair (whilst curling under with a round brush) and only after that do I use my straighteners, so to be fair on the Cloud Nines, they were really up against it to be used straight on my dry bed-head hair.

They performed admirably, I would totally let clients see me like this…. and all in 8 minutes (oh, ok it was closer to 9).  Not bad, not bad at all.

Mostly, I’m impressed with the flexibility of styles I can get from these straighteners depending on the temperature used.  I also found them pretty good for curling and I was pleased with the amount of shine they left on my hair.

Now, if only they could perfect ‘the glide’… hopefully this will be their main focus when designing and building the C9’s mkII.

As for me, I’ll be consigning my old ones to a backup drawer somewhere.  Hello super quick, unfrazzled natural looking straightening!

As a Batiste-lovin’ brunette, my one and only issue with the product was the insane amount of “distribution” I had to do everytime I used the dry shampoo.  It was a tiresome but critical step to ensure that I didn’t make myself look like this little Romeo…

Oh Mon Cheri! xx xx xx xx xx xx (sorry.. I’m having a Pepe Le Pew moment)

Anyway, I wrote about the new range of Batiste dry shampoos for dark hair a few weeks ago, and got the opportunity to see how I got on with the new product.  I’m glad I did, because could I find the coloured range in the Boots stores nearest to me?  Could I hell.  The shelves were bare!  I think that my experiences with hunting the stuff down are being echoed throughout the land.  Hopefully as it becomes a more established feature, stock numbers will increase.

Now, I don’t know how complicated this stuff is to produce, or what goes into it.  All I know is that it needs to perform one simple task.  I need it to dry up any oils that are weighing my hair down at the roots and making it look flat and dull, and in an ideal world, it’s gonna achieve that one thing without any additional side effects.

I swatched it for ya! Ha!

It’s most definitely brown!  The lighter patch in the middle is where I got a bit heavy handed and went back in for a 2nd spray.  As it dries, the colour deepens, so the paler spot didn’t take long to deepen to the same shade as the surrounding colour.

It works aswell as the original formulas, smells fine enough and does what it’s supposed to without making me look like Cruella de Vil.  It’s better than other generic dry shampoos and in my experience, works just aswell as the more expensive varieties.

This really is a staple for me, something that I purchase over and over.  Finally, I can be a little more sloppy with it when I’m in a rush.  Woo ha!

However…

I go through this stuff pretty quickly and I noticed that it’s priced up at nearly £3 in my local store compared to the original (and other scented varieties) which are priced at just above the £2 mark.  So that’s a 1/3rd more expensive and I would love to find out why.

To be blunt, as much as I’m impressed with the product… and truly can’t fault the way it works.  I won’t purchase it now I’ve got the ‘novelty’ factor out of my system unless the price comes down in line with the rest of the brand.

Perhaps if a can of it lasted me longer than 5 minutes then I’d pay a bit more without noticing the hit to my purse.  But if I’m repurchasing this a couple of times a month, then I think I’d rather get a bit of arm ache and spend my £3 saved on a Eggnog Latte instead 😉

Have you tried it yet?  What are your thoughts on the pricing?

I’m my own worst enemy.. I suffer from dry skin, particularly in the winter and one of the worst places for this are my hands.

Despite this, I hate hand creams.  I avoid them like the plague.  I am yet to find one that doesn’t leave a greasy, sticky or at best slightly clammy feeling (and I’ve tried a lot!).

The only thing for it, is to minimise anything that dries my hands out.  This was never a problem for me before I had Leila, but now she’s 6 months old and I’m dreading this winter.  My hands are constantly in contact with baby wipes, which seem to suck all moisture from them (yet they’re fine for her bottom – go figure?).

I was offered a Surya Hand Sanitizer to trial and I was pleased to do so as it’s a product I use often when out and about with the babs in tow.

The Surya Hand Sanitizer carries a little tagline which I didn’t notice in the press release and only discovered after a couple of days use: Moisturizing (yes, spelt the American way).

Surely that’s an oxymoron?  Since when are hand sanitizers (mostly composed of alcohol) anything other than incredibly unmoisturising?

Well… I actually do find this to be pretty good compared to my usual brand of sanitizer (Carex if you’re interested).

I wouldn’t go so far as to call it moisturising, but my hands don’t seem to dry out so much after use and I don’t get a tingling sensation like I do with other brands.

The scent is a little overpowering – an odd combination of mint and lavender, both seem to vye for my attention in an altogether slightly too heady manner, but thankfully the scent it leaves on my hands is a lot more understated than on initial use.

Perhaps most importantly, it dries quickly without leaving any kind of residue.  If you’re in the kind of profession where you need to use these products often – I’d really recommend this as a gentler alternative to many other brands on the market.

Surya Moisturizing Hand Sanitizer is available in two sizes: a 60ml handbag size (£7.00) ideal for busy (who am I kidding?) Mums like me, and a 200ml (£10.00) “desktop” size.

Available to buy from Liberty and online from their website.

Ok, ok, I’m sorry… I never normally post 2 NOTD’s in such quick succession, let alone back to back!

But I physically couldn’t wait to show you guys this one.

You already know how impressed I was with my first George at Asda polish experience… Raincloud, that smooth pale grey remember?

Well check this bobby dazzler out…

I can’t stop looking at my nails, truly.

This is the most perfect blue I’ve ever seen.

It’s called Indigo Dazzle and really is rather exquisite.

Application was a bit frustrating, it didn’t dry that quickly (unlike Raincloud) and when I applied the first coat it was a hot streaky mess as it tried to drag the polish off my nail as fast as I could lay it down.

I think the trick to this one is to appy a thin 1st coat to get the best base of colour that you can, then just go back and be fairly heavy handed with the 2nd coat (whilst trying to avoid bubbling from applying too thickly).  Considering I was much more heavy handed with the 2nd coat I only got 1 bubble which is pretty damn good for a £1 polish.

However, application issues aside… this colour does something to me.

It’s a true blue… no purple or green reflects allowed and it literally glows from within.  I’m so excited to have found these, it makes the weekly food shop *so* much more interesting!

George at Asda Nail polishes, can be found (unsurpisingly) at Asda, they’re currently priced at £1 a bottle and there were a staggering number of shades to choose from when I last looked.

Do you like?

Still on the hunt for an easier to blend alternative to UDPP, I decided to give Art Deco’s Eyeshadow Base a go.

I’ve tried Art Deco products before and on the whole, I’ve been impressed.  I’m a fan of their eyeshadows and camouflage concealers in particular.

Art Deco are a German brand established in 1985 and they’ve been trying to make an impact on this side of the channel for a couple of years now.

I often spy “z”elebrities pictured in the likes of Heat magazine clutching their little Art Deco shopping bags.  You can find the brand stocked in beauty salons and the like, but they’re mostly still trying to find a way into the mainstream market.

Packaged in a sleek little black pot… nice and sturdy.  Honestly though, this is my least favourite style of packaging… especially with these long nails of mine.  HATE digging product out from under these talons.  Yes, I could use a brush, but most of the time I can’t be bothered.

The actual product is a warm flesh-toned creme with shimmer.  If you’re in too much of a hurry for full eye makeup, I have used a touch of this to even out my lids with a slick of eyeliner and I’ve been pleased with the effect.  The shimmer kicks it up a notch, and aids in making me look a little more awake than I feel.

It glides onto the eyelids smoothly and blends (with my finger) to an almost powdery soft finish.  No stickiness or greasy residue is left on the lids.

Shadows glide easily over the base, and blending is much more fluid than I find with UDPP.  Still a little trickier than with no base or the Kryolan Supracolor, but it’s fine.

The million dollar question… does it keep my eyeshadow crease free?

UDPP keeps my shadows glued to my lid like me to Eastenders on Christmas Day, they just don’t budge till the last duh, duh, duhs.

Here’s how my eyeshadow looked after 8hrs with Art Deco’s Eyeshadow Base:

That’s not bad huh?

It actually looks worse in the picture than it did in the mirror, I think the flash from the camera really makes the imperfections stand out.

On the plus side…

It’s creamy, non-drying, makes a good base when worn alone.  It’s easier to blend with than UDPP and it does a thoroughly stand up job at keeping shadows in place.

On the down side…

I don’t think I get quite so much longevity from it as I do with UDPP, but a minimum of 8hrs decent wear is probably all I really need.  I’ve just been spoilt by UDPP still wowing me at bedtime.

On the fence…

It seems to make the shadows just as vivid as UDPP and doesn’t appear to alter the original shades any more than UDPP does, but I’m not really that adept at noticing subtle changes which may well drive other people crazy with frustrations.

Overall, I’m hugely impressed.

It’s also substantially cheaper than UDPP… from memory, I think I paid around £6-£7 for my pot.

You can check out stockists on the UK Art Deco website

[starreview tpl=14]

Introducing Sleek’s new Sunset Palette, I would link you to the website.. but I can’t find the palette on there… infact, the website seems to be thoroughly out of date.  And just how long does it take to build an online shop?

Anyway…

I had absolutely no intention of buying this.  I’m a cool toned kinda girl, especially at the moment… I’m all about the greys, mauves and silvers.

However, whilst buying the Graphite palette… I couldn’t resist a sneak peek inside this one too.  Oh my!

I will probably never wear the blue or the bright orange (I know, I know – they’re the bestest ones)… but they’re just not me!  The others are deliciously wearable metallic shades that will be put into use immediately!

Absolute stand out shades for me are: Top 2nd from left (cranberry colour), bottom far left, bottom 2nd from left and bottom 3rd from right.  If you’re a neutrals girl the palette is easily worth the cost for those 4 shades alone.  Although the cranberry shade looks bright, (and it is..) it blends out smoothly making a gorgeous subtle crease colour.

I’m very happy with this palette, and delighted that it’s made it into the permanent collection – good job Sleek!

I had the opportunity to have a play with some of the new E.L.F Studio Products which should be available to buy on the website from next week – apparently the container arrives in Southampton at the end of this week.  Southampton you say?  Where’s my band of dandy highway makeup fanatics… huge makeup party at Dock Gate 4 then back to mine for a cup of tea?

No? Oh ok then.

After seeing some of the new products, I have to say… E.L.F are getting all innovative on us (but thankfully, not in a vibrating roll-on type way)

Amongst the new goodies, this one in particular stood out to me.

High Definition Powder… oooooooooooooooooh!  I’m going to look all pore-less and fuzzy round the edges.

Or am I?

Let’s have a look then…

So, we’re basically looking at a mix of dimethicones (silicones like you’d find in primers) and silica.  There’s been some controversy surrounding Silica and it’s use in cosmetics… but after a little google I found this article by The Beauty Brains (love them!).

So, it seems that cosmetic grade Silica is not something we should be too wary of using… although some people do have skin reactions to it, so as always… discontinue immediately if you get any kind of irritations.

I’ve been very impressed with the packaging in the Studio line, it’s solid… well made and does a good job at not showing you up in public.  This is no exception, the box is a chunky, solid screw top affair… nicely minimalistic – all in black with simple white text.

See? Still looking rather sleek isn’t it?  Not bad considering it’s retailing at £6 on the website.  It comes with a powder puff type applicator.  I usually throw these away in favour of using my fluffy powder brush, but the HD powder is *very* finely milled and this applicator manages to contain the flying silica dust really well.  I recommend you give it a go before deciding whether or not you’d rather use a brush.

There’s a nice deep reservoir to contain the powder and the sifter sits securely in the pot.  Overall, I’m pleased with the packaging design… I’m not sure how it would stand up to being dropped, I *think* you might be hoovering for a week… but really, that’s your fault for dropping it in the first place isn’t it.

A quick flip upside downside dispenses a nice, even amount of powder onto the puff.  I’m really liking this puff.. it’s soft, fluffy and bouncy.  The little ribbon/tab thing that you hook your fingers under isn’t annoying tight either so it’s easy to grip onto.

The powder itself is white and very fine…. when rubbed between my fingers I can feel the slippery smoothness of the silica.  If you open the pot to have a look… do be careful not to pick that exact moment in which to sneeze.  Luckily I turned my head just in time and only created a minor dust storm.

On to application…

I applied this powder over the top of my finished makeup… that’s after concealer, foundation and blush.  To apply, I placed the puff in the reservoir and inverted the pot which dispensed a thin even coat of powder onto the puff.  Bringing the puff up to my face I patted the powder over my t-zone.  I pat all loose finishing powders on, never swiping, stroking or buffing.  This stuff is *so* fine that it’s not going to leave big floury patches all over your face that need buffing in.

I noticed that it immediately absorbed any shininess without looking cakey.

To be honest, that was all I noticed…

I was disappointed, I’m not sure what I was expecting… but I wanted to see a little more than just a really good shine absorber.  To be fair to the powder, it was invisible… no ashiness on my very fair skin-tone and a lovely even, matte finish which felt silky to the touch.

It was only when I took some pictures for the review and uploaded them that I became a little more excited.

Please excuse the blotchy nose, I think I’m developing a little rosacea there 🙁  Hopefully it’s just the change in the seasons rather than something more permanent.

Anyway, I digress… as you can see, it’s left the nice, even and matte finish I described.  Nice, but no great shakes… until I zoomed in…

Wait, wait, wait… where have my pores gone?

Let me compare this to the image you thought you’d never have to look at again… sorry… but I have to…

LINK

Can you see the difference?  It’s so hard as a reviewer to explain exactly what I’m seeing… I mean, after 28 years… I *know* my face… I know where I picked a spot age 17 and left a slightly bigger crater, I can pinpoint exactly where that pesky enlarged pore on my cheek is or how deep that fine line is just below my 45th eyelash from the left 😉

What I’m trying to say (in my usual bumbling way) is this HD powder genuinely seems to be achieving something that is pleasing to my eye.  It’s not erasing my pores by any stretch of the imagination but it’s ‘softening’ them.  I think that’s the best way I can describe it.

Maybe all you want to know is… will I be buying this when it runs out?  Yes, yes and yes again.  For me, it works not only as a great finishing powder… but I’m seeing a marked “soft focus” difference in my images.  Basically, it’s doing for me what it’s supposed to do.  It’s living up to the hype of MUFE’s HD Powder at a considerably lower cost to my purse.

Do I notice a huge difference when I look in the mirror?  I’m not sure I do.  But I’ve looked at a few of my older images zoomed in, and I can see it when I compare.  I don’t know what that means… is it only visible in photographs?  That’s just weird and not hugely useful… Maybe it’s a subtle overall soft focus effect and I’m analysing it too closely when I’m looking in the mirror searching out the flaws.  Perhaps I’m able to detach myself a little when I look at a photograph instead.  I don’t know… I’m getting all psychoanalytical now, so I’m just gonna shut up.

Will it work for you? Who knows.. I’ve tried a few soft focus mineral finishing powders (from MMU companies) that have been raved about and I’ve struggled to notice any discernible differences and I really wasn’t expecting to be so pleasantly surprised by this one.

Apologies for my hugely wordy rambling review, but I guess you can tell.  I’m excited by this one.  If you buy it, please let me know how you get on with it.  I hope it works for you.

E.L.F’s HD Powder is available now from the E.L.F website.  If you can wait a couple of weeks, they usually release promo codes on their twitter or facebook page so you can often take advantage of free shipping.

This is Sleek’s latest addition to their highly popular palette family.

It’s basically an all-in-one smokey eye kit.  Two highlight shades and variations of blacks/greys with a purple (or 2) thrown in.

Texture wise, they’re the same creamy, slightly crumbly but highly pigmented shadows that we’ve come to know and love from Sleek.

I wish, wish, wish that the shades between the highlights and the first grey were more graduated.  There seems to be an awfully big jump from those first two shades into what (for me) is crease colour territory.

As I don’t generally wear dark shades on my lids, this palette ultimately consists of 10 crease colours.

If you count, left-right… top-bottom… 4 & 5 are too simillar as are 7 & 8 and even 11 & 12 which is such a shame, because this is a wonderful palette idea from a company that produce great shadows for a great price but honestly, I think it’s a “could have done better”.

I’ll get lots use out of it, and for less than £5 it’s definitely not something I’d ever regret buying, I’m just sad thinking about how good it could have been.

It’s Limited Edition, and from experience these palettes sell out quicker than a Bon Jovi concert, so get down Superdrug quick!

As a total false lash virgin, I was excited but cautious when approached to test out some lashes from the Revlon Fantasy Lengths range.  What’s in a name huh?  When the parcel arrived, husband thought I’d been making one of *those* orders… and was relieved to discover nothing but false lashes as far as the eye could see.

I considered turning down the offer, wondering if perhaps I wasn’t really false lash material… I mean, I could rock the ooh la la lashes whilst walking down to the post office but it’s not like I go anywhere that calls for such lash fluttery.

But then I realised, as a total novice… I was infact perfect to test out how these babies perform (and apply).

I got sent 2 types… the self-adhesive variety and scary glue-on ones.

Let me start with the scary glue ons… well, my first attempt was an unmitigated train wreck.  I may aswell have just saved myself half an hour of tedious positioning and glued one to my forehead and the other to my chin.  Shu model I ain’t.

I’d also managed to coat the lashes in so much of the glue that was included, my only option was to bin them.  Girls, don’t be all cavalier and think that you can apply the glue directly from the tube.  You can’t.  Get over it and find a q-tip to snap in half.

2nd attempt was a little better.. still wonky, but at least I didn’t glue my own lashes to my lid this time.

To be honest, I was pissed, grumpy and slightly fearful that 3rd time lucky would mean 3rd time glue your eyes shut… so I gave up with those ones.

The lashes themselves are lovely, I thankfully didn’t need to trim them and the thing I noticed most was just how lightweight they were.  I thought I’d really notice them on, but they felt like a natural extension to my own eyelashes.

See? *flutter flutter*

I moved on to the self-adhesives…

E.A.S.Y

How can there be so much difference?  Was it practice?… or are self-adhesives that much kinder to adjusting little mistakes?  Either way, this application looked halfway decent and I even left the house in them.

I asked my husband if he liked my eyelashes.  He looked totally confused.

After a couple of misunderstandings later he elaborated on his puzzlement by saying that he didn’t realise I had falsies on.  Yes, ladies and gentl ladies… my natural eyelashes are that amazing.

Oh ok, ok, I’ll grudgingly admit that it might be because Revlon Fantasy Lengths are pretty darn natural looking…  or of course, it could be option 3… my husband is a bloke who just doesn’t notice anything.

Anyway you wanna see?

Please do bear in mind, that this is genuinely my third ever attempt at applying false eyelashes.  Regardless, just try to stifle your guffaws ’till you’ve moved on to someone else’s blog and I can’t hear you anymore.

Now, my left eye (your right) – I think I got pretty darn perfect?  Other one, not so much… I placed them a little too high.

The band was very easy to cover over with a slick of liquid liner and the lashes themselves stuck steadily for around 6 hours before I noticed a teeny amount of lift on an outer corner (but that could easily be my fault).

I would say that these self-adhesives are marketed more towards novices like me.  I’m not scared of them anymore and would deinitely purchase them for special occasions.

The glue-on ones?  Not unless I had someone else to apply them for me.  Or hands that don’t pretend to be bananas.

Do you wear false lashes?  Any application tips for me?