A Friday Favourite~ Max Factor Masterpiece Transform Mascara

I never buy high end mascara because there are always such amazing drugstore alternatives that makes splashing the cash on something that lasts only a few weeks before it dries out seem so unnecessary to me. 

I have my favourites from L'oreal (telescopic) and Bourjois (volume one second) but if I'm ever stuck at a mascara loose end I know I can rely on Max Factor to offer up a winner.

Although I have a slight issue with this one, which I'll get onto in a minute, the MTM has been my go to mascara for the past few weeks because I'm obsessed with how well it volumises, separates and lengthens but doesn't leave a clumpy mess behind even after 2-3 coats the finish is so natural and pretty. It gives the impression that you have been blessed with really long gorgeous lashes and maybe you have applied a quick effortless stroke of mascara before heading out.

OK so as I said it's not totally perfect, the issue I've have with this is how it can get slightly messy when I'm trying to do a 5 minute make-up application at 6:30 am and I end up with more on my lids than my lashes due to the formula being very liquidy and the brush picking up too much product, not so much of a problem really but just a heads up you may want to have a tissue handy for excess product control. (I never have tissues handy hence the need to vent!) ;)

The positives far outweigh that little problem though and I will definitely be repurchasing this, it's a beaut!

xxx

Bourjois Nude Sensation Blur Effect Foundation!

It's no secret around these parts that I love Bourjois, for me they are definitely the King of the drugstore when it comes to base products. So while browsing feel unique for a new cleanser imagine my delightedness (wasn't expecting that to pass spellcheck?!?!) when I stumble across this new foundation offering (OK I didn't exactly stumble, I had drifted into the Make-up section, I'm bad!) I thought for a minute that I had missed a trick somewhere as I haven't heard any mention of this, turns out it was released exclusively to feel unique last week.

"Bourjois Nude Sensation Blur Effect Foundation is an incredibly light mousse foundation with a silky texture that melts instantly into the skin leaving the complexion evened out and smooth. The foundation offers the feel of a feather-light texture, the comfort of bare skin and the incredible results of a smooth-effect foundation."

 I had to do a shade match guess out of the 4 shades there are on offer which are different to the usual Bourjois shades where I either go for 52 or 53 depending on my level of fake tanned-ness I went for T43 Nude Dore as the 2 lighter shades looked too pink toned for my skin and the darkest I'm imagining is too dark. 

Anyway it's on it's way now (woohoo!) so I'll let you know how I get on with it (high hopes!) :D 

Bourjois Nude sensation Blur effect foundation £9.99- link

xxx

5 Reds I Dare To Wear!

Happy valentines day! I hope you have all been suitably spoiled today and if not never mind its all a load of bollocks anyway ;) I've never been much of a lover of Valentines day but I am a lover of matching make-up to occassions and we all know that Valentines = Red lips!

So even though I'm not the bravest when it comes to leaving the house in any kind of super bold red lip I am still a big fan especially when it comes to a red lip with a neutral eye/black liquid liner combo I just tend to go for a more toned down version, I know I'm not alone with this  so I thought I'd gather up my top 5 'comfort zone reds' and share the ones I dare to wear! 

MAC 'Ruby Woo'

Starting with the most daring of the bunch, Ruby Woo is such a beautiful classic red I just love it! I tend to apply this by dabbing the colour onto my lips and blending with my finger to get more of a stained look but applied full on from the bullet it delivers a seriously stunning matte red pout that suits pretty much everyone.

NARS Lipgloss 'Scandal'

A gorgeous semi-sheer warm toned gloss, this is an easy one to swipe on over lipstick/tint or to wear alone for a pretty but not in your face pop of cherry red.

Revlon Lip butter 'Wild Watermelon' 

A really coral/pink toned red, this is so easy to apply and comfortable to wear the colour can be swiped on from the bullet for a semi sheer tint or built up so you can have an almost opaque glossy lip. It's a pretty V.day red but I'm also thinking this will be amazing in Summer with a tan!

ELF luscious liquid lipstick 'strawberry'

This one is quite similar to the NARS lipgloss although being from ELF it's around a fifteenth of the price, colour wise it's pretty much a dupe it's just a teeny bit more pink and the ELF is a little more sheer and less sticky formula wise, I'd recommend picking this up though if you were thinking of splashing the cash on the NARS.

benefit 'benetint'

I feel that this was a product bought out with valentines day in mind although as I typed that I remembered it was actually originally released as a nipple tint haha oh well whatever floats your boat! This is a classic for red lip wusses, a rosy red liquid tint that can be built up and dries leaving a gorgeous 'just bitten' stain and can also be worn as a cheek tint for uniformed rosiness!

I hope you find this helpful if you are looking for some subtle red lip shades, Let me know your recommendations for easy to wear red lips and if any of these are already a favourite of yours.

xxx

HAUL- H&M Jewellery

I'm really loving H&M right now, being almost 22 weeks pregnant I have found that their basics range is a godsend and have for the past couple of months been living in their £3.99 long line vests (which never ride up) and my black Topshop Leigh maternity jeans anyway I headed there yesterday to find me some more basic pieces for my 'preggo uniform' and decided as I'm basically top of the worlds most boringly dressed people right now It'd be a good idea to jazz things up with a few pretty pieces that caught my eye in the jewellery section...

Firstly this gorgeous statement necklace, stone-wise this came in quite a few colours there was also a pale pink, blue, cream and Khaki, all came on a gold chain which isn't usually my thing but somehow I love it when it comes too statement necklaces, all really pretty but I'll definitely get more wear out of the Black.

A teeeeeny tiny bunch of keys on a silver chain, what's not too love? The cute factor got to me when it came to popping this dinky necklace in my basket plus it was only £2.99 so definitely not a bank breaker.

I'm not really much of a bracelet wearer but this stack of 4 Rose Gold bracelets caught my eye there's something about the chain mail/Rose Gold combo that I love and with them being elasticated they can either be worn stacked up or twisted over each other to add in a bit of interest (really living on the edge right now!!)

I fell in love as soon as I saw these pale pink stud earrings I think Fleur de force was wearing something similar in a recent video and I loved hers! They were a total bargain at £1.99 and I thought they would be really pretty to wear on Valentines day, not that I'm planning to go anywhere but ya know they'll be pretty around the house, Ikea, wherever the romance of day takes us ;)

So with these little beauties, my handy basics and a bunch of the most adorable newborn baby clothes bagged up H&M made me a really happy hormonal lady yesterday! I definitely recommend popping in for a nosey if you are shopping this weekend. 

<3

New Drugstore Make-up And First Impressions.

I had a serious case of the Monday blues this week so by lunch time I decided to do the one thing that is guaranteed to pick my lip up off the floor and headed off towards Boots and Superdrug for a much needed (but totally not needed!) beauty hit.

The only thing I was really in need of was a new eyebrow pencil so I picked up the Maybelline brow satin in Medium Brown which is an ash toned brown, thumbs up! It's double ended with one side being a retractable gel pencil (love these as I'm a lazy sharpener) and the other side a sponge tip applicator that contains a powder meant for filling in any gaps and perfecting the whole appearance of ones brows! 

After 3 consecutive mornings of using the brow satin I'm sold on the gel pencil end, the fine tip and well pigmented but natural colour tone make for foolproof, faff-free brow fills which I'm definitely all about at 6:30 am! It reminds me of a favourite from back in the day the MAC brow pencil in 'fling'  but at half the price. I'm yet to venture to the powder end of this product because it's an unfamiliar concept and I want to have a bit more time for a play with it but I'll post my thoughts when I've given it a whirl
( I have heard good things though).

As Maybelline is currently on buy one get one half price I thought I'd give their new 'Lash sensational' mascara a go, not sure why because I've never found a Maybelline mascara that I've loved. I definitely prefer Max factor, L'oreal and Bourjois when it comes to drugstore mascara but because of the offer and how there's a bit of a hype around this one I found myself popping it into my basket.

Annnd this is sooo not the one to convert me to a Maybelline mascara lover, I like the idea of the tapered, curved rubber wand but that's about all because even after a 'Shu uemura squeeze' as always with Maybelline mascara this does nothing for my lashes, I don't hate it, it's just 'meh' it's a 'meh-scara' ;)

Rimmel 25 hour nude is the medium coverage version of the much loved full coverage Rimmel lasting finish 25 hour, a recent release and one that I was keen to try out. Aside from what I think we all agree is an ever so silly 25 hour claim (more like 6), it does what it says on the tin, it's reasonably lightweight formula means a little goes a long way and it blends effortlessly into skin, it does have a semi-matte finish which picks up on the annoying areas of dryness I have at the moment, but that aside it's not exactly hydrating but it is comfortable to wear. So a no-go for very dry skin days but on the whole I'm really liking this I can see myself using it as an everyday and evening foundation as it's the perfect middle ground, flawless finish without being full on.

Rimmel also has an offer on in Superdrug, currently it's any two products for £10 I knew that I wanted to get the soft khol kajal eyeliner in 'sable brown' after seeing Tanya Burr use it in a Selena Gomez tutorial last week, she raved about this pencil and it looked stunning on her so it instantly went on my drugstore to get list. I've only had chance to use this once so far but I loved it, it's so pigmented and creamy it glides on like a dream, and the colour is perfect for achieving depth and definition without being harsh for daytime wear also I'm really looking forward to using this for my favourite kind of evening bronze/brown smoky eye.

I'm going to carry on trying these products out and if there are any that you would like a full review on let me know, although the 'meh-scara'  mayyy already be in my unloved make-up drawer ...

What drugstore Make-up are you loving lately?

xxx