Festival Makeup Ready

Festival season has already begun, and there still some great festivals coming up with some fantastic line ups... I love music so festivals have always been something that excites me!
Whether you are camping it up, or just coming down for the day (and staying in a nice, warm hotel...) a natural makeup look is perfect for a festival. We all know Natural Collection; available online or in-store at Boots, is affordable and good quality, and is perfect for a natural and pretty beauty look. With all their products costing only £1.99, it is ideal for any budget.
 A pretty nail colour like this one from Natural Collection; which is the Nail Colour in Hibiscus is a perfect bright pink would look great for a festival I think, nice and bright and colourful!
You want to keep makeup nice and simple if you are camping out I imagine, so a cover up stick would be ideal for me to just hide those naughty blemishes and a waterproof mascara (cause we all know Britain is known for its rain...) so it will stay in place all day! Lastly, a pretty tinted lip balm like this one in Caribbean Crush is perfect to add a pop of colour while still keeping your lips soft and hydrated is ideal to pop in your rucksack.

What is your go - to festival makeup look?

2015 Make Up Favourites

I haven't written a favourite's post in a while, so as we have just seen in the New Year I couldn't think of anything more fitting than writing my round up of all of my favourite beauty products from the last Year. I scuttled around the house collecting all my favourites; and I managed to choose one eye shadow product, one mascara, one base product and two lip products. 

First up we have my most reached for eye shadow palette, which is the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette. I use this palette most days. I find it perfect for just an every day look but also a great palette to have as you can create so many different looks with it. The mascara I have enjoyed using the most has been the Clinique High Impact Mascara. This gives good length and thickens the lashes, without looking clumpy. I am quite fussy when it comes to mascara but this is a great every day mascara. I couldn't decide on just one lip product so I had to include two; the first being Soap and Glory's A Great Kisser Lip Balm. I'm not sure if S&G still stock this, as I haven't been able to find it, so I am guessing not. This is a really nice lip balm which gives a little shimmer to the lips, keeps them coated and smells of peaches. I use this on top of matte lipsticks to give a more glossy look. I have a back up tin of this, I am so glad as it doesn't look like I will be able to buy it again! Anyone that has known me for a while knows I have always been a big fan of Cheryl's makeup looks. I bought the L'oreal Paris Color Riche Collection Exclusive Nudes in Cheryl's Nude in hope that I could recreate her lovely nude lip; unfortunately I did not transform into Cheryl overnight (!) but this lipstick is a beautiful nude and one I have reached for the most this Year.

I tried the Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation for the first time this Year, and I really love it. After being a huge fan of Rimmels Match Perfection foundation for as long as I can remember, it is great to see they stock another good foundation which is a good match for my skin tone and gives a good medium coverage. 

What are you favourite beauty products from 2015? Any recommendations to share?

Soap and Glory The Whole She - Bang

I have picked up the 'big star gift' Soap and Glory set again this Year, and what a treat it is! I am such a fan of the brand and can not resist this amazing deal; £70 worth of products, retails at £60... and is just £30 at Boots during it's Week as the star gift. 

I think I have taken advantage of Soap and Glory's star gift every Year apart from last Year, sometimes I ask for it for Christmas and other times I pick it up myself.

The Whole She - Bang includes 9 full sized products; Peaches & Clean, Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Gloss, Thick & Fast Mascara, The Righteous Butter Body Butter, Clean On Me Shower Gel, The Scrub Of Your Life, Heel Genius, The Righteous Butter Tinted Body Lotion and Hand Food Hand Cream. I love that this set always includes great products that I know I will get a lot of use out of.

Have you grabbed yourself any beauty bargains recently?

Benefit Roller Lash First Impressions

^ Left: natural lashes; Right: 2 coats of Benefit Roller Lash ^

Hi lovelies. If you are a big beauty fan like me, you have probably heard of Benefit's latest release, 'Roller Lash'. I am a big fan of Benefit mascaras; They're Real is one of my favourite mascaras ever so I had high expectations for this.

I have been using Roller Lash for over a Week now and thought I would share my first impressions and thoughts so far. I love it! That is a pretty bold statement after using it for just one Week I know, but I do really like it just as much as They're Real.

The mascara wand was created based on velcro hair rollers, with a flexible wand that has small rubber hooks that catch and curl your lashes as you apply. I really like the packaging, I think Benefit are going with a retro/glam theme with the velcro hair rollers being a main focus. 

I think that the mascara is really lengthening, which is the result I like to achieve the most when it comes to lashes. It also curls the lashes which I am so impressed by, not many mascaras are able achieve a good curl without the use of eyelash curlers beforehand. Roller Lash also separates the lashes and doesn't become clumpy after a few coats. I really like that it doesn't create extremely thick lashes, because that look doesn't really suit me. It doesn't smudge or leave pesky marks on the top of your eyelids (a problem I seem to have with a lot of mascaras I've tried in the past!) and is generally a good all - rounder product. It separates, lengthens, curls and gives a slight thickness to the lashes, what more can you ask for? 

Currently you can pick up a copy of Elle Magazine (March 2015), which costs just £4, and try out a sample of Roller Lash four weeks before it is available in store!

*I was not asked to write this post*

Avon Mega Effects Mascara Review

Todays post is a little different to usual, as I am joined by another beauty lover, who is in fact, my Sister!
Shes loves all things beauty, make up and skin care, so I thought I would introduce her here on my blog, so that she could share with you one of her favourite Avon products! 

When I first saw all of the press and advertisements for the Avon Mega Effects Mascara - I knew I wanted to try it. It looked so different to anything I had seen before in the world of Mascaras - it is such a clever concept. It is quite compact, which is brilliant for any beauty lover as we all know, space is something we could all use more of in our make up bags!  To open, you take off the lid and you bend the mascara. It looks quite strange when you first look at it - and application can take a short while to get used to, but the concept is brilliant. 
The mascara fits perfectly on all of your lashes - that means no touching up the inner corners where most mascaras never seem to reach - this one does it all, with one simple sweep of the brush over your lashes. I tend to use two coats of this mascara, which makes my lashes look full, thicker and darker. This mascara creates great volume without creating clumpy, stuck - together lashes. I would definitely recommend others to try this mascara out, it isn't a gimmick, it is a great idea which is less time - consuming and that really works!

You can order this or anything else from Avon from the lovely Rickie on her Avon website here or have a chat with her on Twitter at @BeautyFaves. 

Have you tried the Avon Mega Effect Mascara? 

w7 Showing Out Mascara

w7 Showing Out Mascara in Blackest Black

I am a big w7 fan, but I do find it difficult to get hold of their products. I found a few reviews from bloggers who had discovered the website Xtras that stocked a lot of w7's products, so I ordered this mascara. It cost only £2.80 which I think is a great bargain for a mascara.

As you can see, the wand is quite thick and the brush is quite fat. The top of the brush has a little dome shape, which is great for getting into the corners and applying to the bottom lashes. 

This mascara helps to achieve very voluminous, long and thick lashes. It can get a little messy as it is a large brush, but if you are light handed application is very easy.

Have you found any bargain beauty websites thanks to reading blogs?

Guest Post: Soap and Glory Thick and Fast Mascara

Hi everyone, today I have another guest post from a fantastic and lovely blogger, Amy. I really enjoy reading her blog, you can check it out here. I'll hand it over to Amy!

Hi guys!

First of all, many thanks to Zoe for letting me do a guest post for her lovely blog. :)

I thought that after checking out her product directory, it would be pretty fitting to talk a Soap and Glory product, since it seems she's a fan, and so am I!

I'll be reviewing the infamous Thick & Fast Mascara, which is both loved and hated in the world of beauty enthusiasts.

　

Anyway, here's what I reckon....

Packaging

In typical Soap & Glory style, the packaging is girly and pretty. What more is there really to say?

Price

This retails for £10, which isn't the cheapest you can get for "drugstore" makeup, but also not the most expensive by any means. I think it's pretty reasonable.

What I reckon....

This, for me, is totally hit and miss!

The formula is a nice jet black, but the brush is HUGE, which is usually fantastic, but can be a bit of a pain for dealing with teeny little lashes.

For me, it did live up to its claims of being volumising (and doing it fast, for that matter), but I do have a problem with my lashes clumping together a little, which sometimes happens when I add more than one coat, which is a shame, although I can usually fix this by giving it a thorough combing through with a spooly brush.

As for lasting power, I'd say this is pretty great! I don't have any problems when it comes to flaking and smudging, and my lashes seem to still look lovely and thick by the end of the day!

　

All in all...

I think this is a reasonably priced mascara with impressive results. Saying that, I wish Soap & Glory would perhaps downsize the brush to grab my teeny tiny lashes and save me from those irritating smudges on my eyelid.

Overall, a thumbs up, Soap & Glory!

Thank you for the fantastic review, Amy! Do check out her blog its a great read!

Have you tried this mascara too? What are your thoughts?

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Lash Extending Treatment Mascara

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Lash Extending Treatment Mascara in Black

Black, RRP £21, available at Boots

I was really excited when I purchased this treatment mascara as Elizabeth Arden is a well - loved brand, and I knew it would be a good quality product. The product boasts to optimize the look of lashes, making application smoother and easier, the mascara lasting longer, and lashes to feel softer, healthier looking and less likely for breakage. All of these points sound fantastic, don't you think? For me, the treatment mascara lives up to my expectations. My lahses do not feel clumpy or tacky after applying this, nor do they look sparse and stuck together. It feels like the are opened (if that makes sense?) a lot more evenly. They look natural, yet thicker and slightly longer, making them look healthy and looking wide awake.

The product doesn't give that annoying 'just-after-application-dots-above-your-lids' thing that a lot of mascaras tend to do to me. I use this treatment mascara before applying my normal every day mascara (usually Soap and Glory Thick and Fast or Benefit They're Real) and it seems to make my lashes feel and look better, and last longer through-out the day too. 

 I would purchase this product again as it worked well for me.

Have you tried a treatment mascara like this before? What are your thoughts?

Benefit They're Real

Benefit They're Real Mascara

They're Real is the best mascara I have ever used. I have had it previously and loved it, so I was chuffed to be gifted the amazing mascara in my Brum Blogger Meet goodie bag following talks from Wendy from Benefit.

The packaging is silver, very sleek and looks like a high end product. It also comes in a box as can be seen below, which contains information on the product. 

The mascara at full size retails at £19.50 from Boots 

At first glance looking at the brush and the bristles, I wasn't sure if such a thin brush would do the job. I was surprised to see it coats my eye lashes fabulously and after only two coats of this mascara alone my lashes looked twice as full and thick, and very voluminous.

As their name would suggest, They're Real really do give the effect that you have false lashes on. This mascara coats your lashes making them look really full, thick and long.

There are no clumps of mascara and it is fairly easy to remove.

My own lashes are very small and barely noticeable without a decent mascara, so a mascara like this one is an absolute dream to use!

I am unsure if it is a waterproof mascara, but it doesn't run in my experience, although like I mentioned earlier, it is fairly easy to remove with eye make up remover. 

You can buy They're Real at Boots for £19.50

Have you tried They're Real?

What are your thoughts?

Review: Sleek Lash Out Mascara

Sleek are deserving well-known for their fantastic i-Divine eye shadow palettes. A few months ago I was browsing their stand in Superdrug and fancied trying one of their mascaras. I looked at the four mascaras they had available, ad picked out 'lash out', the most expensive and the most appealing mascara they had.

As you can see from my photograph below, the brush is very fine and slim but coats the lashes very well and does not clump your eye lashes at all. I would say the effect it leaves is a more of a every day look, I would probably use a different mascara for a night out as it isn't too exaggerate even when built up. 

The mascara is impressive as it lasts all day without clumping. When applying, it doesn't create those annoying dots above your eyes while it is drying either which off course is a bonus! 

Lash Out retails at £7 respectively. I think the price is very reasonable for the quality and packaging of the product. It is available online and also in store at Superdrug.

I would repurchase this mascara again. 8/10.

Have you tried any other Sleek products/

Product Rave: Stila Fiber Optics Mascara

Product Rave!

Stila 'Fiber Optics' Mascara in Brown

You know when sometimes you come across a make-up product that is so fabulous you cannot express how much you love it?

This is it. This Stila mascara is probably the best mascara I have ever purchased. I have had this a long while now, I do believe it is now discontinued but I have found a couple on eBay which I plan to buy once this has run out.

As you can see from the photographs, the brush is quite thick and large. It applies well, thickens and lengthens the lashes, separates the lashes and does not clump your eyelashes together when building it up.

The formula is truly great, it lasts on my lashes ALL DAY. 

I don't usually tend to go for brown mascaras, but I got this on a whim and am really impressed, as I never even thought how more natural it looks for me! 

(Hopefully you can tell by the quality of the photographs that I now have a new camera! Its a Nikon camera. I can't remember the actual name of the model but I will find the box out later and fill it in here. It is amazing how much better quality a DSLR camera is compared to my old and battered digital camera - although that is in the process of being fixed so I shall be using both!)

What is your go-to mascara?

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Battle of the 'pump up' mascaras

Battle of the pump up mascaras!

Color Trend V Miss Sporty

Color Trend (Avon) Pump Up The Volume in Black £4.50 

Please note: The name of this mascara has recently been changed to 'plump out' but the mascara is virtually the same

The good: The price, nice as a base mascara, sepearates lashes well

The not so good: brush is small, product seems quite watery, doesn't lengthen eyelashes , if worn all day product needs reapplying as does not last. 

Does it pump your lashes up: Not really :-( still a good basic mascara, but does not lengthen or thicken eyelashes

The grade: 6/10

Miss Sporty Pump Up Booster

£3.99

The good: Price, big thick brush, separates and lengthens lashes, long lasting and lasts all day

The not so good: Product can become a little clumpy if applied too much

Does it pump your eyelashes up: Yes, definitely! Eyelashes are thick, long and wide!

The grade: 9/10

That is it for today folks! Hope you found this useful!

What are your favourite drugstore mascaras?

Comment or tweet me @zoelianne_x

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