Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

I am one of the few women on earth it seems that hasn't tried the slightly famous Bioderma micellar water. Or the L'Oreal one which seems to be the highstreet dupe. And my reason? Well I just never though micellar waters would catch on, and boy wasn't I wrong...But I saw the new Garnier micellar water in Boots for .£4.99 for 400ml and decided this was the time to give into the trend. 

Although, I got my geek on and compared this to the L'Oreal micellar water, and you know what? The ingredients are exactly the same. I am rubbish at science, so maybe there is an explanation, but from what I can see they are just the same product, different labels. Not mention different price tags.

Science and ingredients aside, and how it pains me to say it, but  I love how gentle the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water actually feels on my skin and while removing my make-up. A massive plus for this is that it passes the 'eye sting' test with flying colours. (Seriously, I literally squeezed a fully soaked cotton pad unintentionally in my eye and it didn't sting). Although, I have read a few reviews saying it didn't remove eye makeup at all, so I'll have to put this to the test when I am wearing a bit more and see how it fairs up then. But so far it has passed the marks with the mascara obsessive. Garnier has also claimed that this lasts up to 200 uses, I am not sure if I use this wrong but I can't see it lasting that long.

The Garnier micellar water has no scent which it great, and ideal for my little sensitive face, although I am not sure if its competitors are scented? Either way, for the £4.99 price tag I quite happy with this bottle of water, and I do wish I had got involved with the micellar water hype sooner.

Have you tried the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water? 

   

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Pamper Time...No 6 Clinic Tunbridge Wells

If you follow me on Instagram, you might of seen that yesterday I got pampered. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday, at all. I was lucky enough to pop in the No6 Clinic in Tunbridge Wells to receive one of their power facials. Anything to help my skin this time of year is welcome, especially with the name 'power'. Not really being up on beauty treatments (bad I know) I hadn't really come across the different types of facials that there are. I just thought they shoved products on your face, rub it in and, voila, you're done. Erm, well, how I was wrong. I firstly received an in-depth consultation with the lovely aesthetician Beth, who assessed my skin type and all sorts of issues including acne, rosacea, sun damaged skin, hyper pigmentation and ageing skin. Not that I have aging skin, yet mind you.

The facial I received has actually been developed by No6 to "help maintain healthy skin using a combination of advanced treatments in 45 minutes to produce amazing results." Can't complain at that little promise. And after a double cleanse, as yes I am the sort of girl who turns up for a facial with foundation applied, was the facial peel. The best way to describe this is like if you applied Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother Pucker onto your face and left it tingling. I love anything with that sort of feeling on my skin as it feels like its getting a proper good clean. 

Next, my face got put under the Omnilux medical infra red light, which plumps out the skin by stimulating collagen and increasing hydration. This was strange. Think of a sunbed for your face, but obviously doing your skin some good, plus I did feel like I was sunning myself on a beach. Just with my mum chattering away in the corner. I even got a little foot massage, hence why my feet have made an appearance in the photos, definitely would of painted my toes if I had known and not end up showing my polish that has more than likely been on all winter. Lastly Beth applied an antioxidant Idebenone combined with AHA and vitamin A lotion.

Complete heaven. And my skin is so soft. Pardon the cliche, but baby skin smooth. If you're in the Tunbridge Wells area you need to pop in. You just must.

 
Have a nose at No6 Clinic here:  No 6 Clinic Tunbridge Wells

Have you ever had a facial treatment that wowed you?

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5 Drugstore & High Street Mascaras: Top Picks

I thought I ought to put my mascara addiction to good use today, and I have complied a list of my top 5 mascaras you can buy on the high street right out. And yes, I have realised there are only two brands mentioned, this is totally unintentional, but no others were good enough to make my little list! Please feel free to suggest some high street mascaras, and provided I've not tried them (which is highly unlikely haha) I would love try expand my addiction. This list isn't in a particular order, just newest to oldest.

Max Factor Excess Volume Extreme Impact Mascara | Max Factors newest offering is my new current favourite. 

L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara | The new L'Oreal is also lovely, but not quite as volumising as Max Factor.

Max Factor Masterpiece Max Mascara | This classic Max Factor mascara is one of my long standing favourites.

L'Oreal False Lash Flutter Mascara | My second L'Oreal pick is excellent for defining and volumsing.  

Max Factor Clump Defy Mascara | Last, but not least, is another hyped up Max Factor mascara. Hello volume.

 

Have you tried any of these mascaras? Which mascaras are you high street/drugstore favorites? 

 

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Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

I got this Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara as part of my Clinique Lashes Top to Bottom mascara gift set, but it has been on my wish list ever since it first got realised. I just can not resist the idea of a mascara for my bottom lashes as mine are rather long and often get 'tangled' and a bit curly.  The idea of mascara for bottom lashes is that it's smudge resistant, lash separating and has a teeny brush for easier application.

This brush is so tiny, you can't really understand how little it is, so I compared it to the Max Factor Masterpiece mascara brush just to demonstrate this. Really the Clinique brush is just a super basic traditional brush, shrunk down to mini size, for mini lashes. I was dubious that this would work, and it looks like a lot of effort to apply, I know I am a mascara addict, but even for me I was feeling like this may not get much use.

I've got to admit that it does give a much cleaner, defined and smudge-free result in comparison to the unavoidable mess that I normally create when trying to achieve a similar look with a standard-sized mascara. And the application was just as quick as a normally brush much to my joy. I really do not have any more time available in the mornings for extra mascara applying, how much I wish! I do like the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara much more than I expected and can fully say it has come part of my daily makeup routine. I haven't applied as much mascara on my top lashes just so you can see the effect from this mascara a bit better.

For £12.50, the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara is a reasonable-ish price and since it's only being used on the bottom lashes, I imagine it will last a long time. But I bet when it comes to me having to repurchase I won't be able to justify it! It's now part of my every day makeup routine and will definitely be buying again (hopefully).

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara - £12.00

Have you tried Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara?

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Naked Volume Body Building Shampoo & Weightless Conditioner

Flat and limp are the two best words to describe my hair, so as always I am on the hunt for anything to give it some life form. And I've recently started using Naked’s 97% natural and sulphate-free Volume and Shampoo Conditioner. (£3.99) This is a brand that I am sure you've heard of, they are very much hyped up, and I am yet to read a negative review.

So basically the claim is for the Naked Volume Body Building Shampoo & Weightless Conditioner is big bouncy hair, without the risk of a dry, irritated scalp or product build up. Can't complain at that, besides both priced under £5 which is never a bad thing! But do they work? In a word, yes. The grape and passionflower ingredients do the smoothing down the hair cuticles, while corn extracts give the hair a boost, so leaving hair looking big, bouncy and full of shine, well as much shine as blonde hair will get. The body building shampoo really leaves my hair feeling clean, helping the volumised feel, but I do imagine that if my hair had gone a few days without a wash it would need two shampoos to really feel clean. This is also the perfect conditioner for my hair because it is definitely weightless yet it manages to tame my locks at the same time without overloading my little flat locks.

The best thing about this duo? The scent. I am in love. The shampoo is particular has such a gorgeous smell to it, and it does remind me of ginger. Although it doesn't actually contain ginger so maybe my nose it a little off! For £5 the Naked Volume Body Building Shampoo & Weightless Conditioner is such a good deal and these easily compete with the higher end volumsing shampoos and conditioners I've tried, and this has left me wanting to try their Blonde Lightening shampoo next.

Have you tried the Naked Volume Body Building Shampoo & Weightless Conditioner?

Again, I've found that this is perfect for my skin, too, and since switching to Naked hair products I've seen a massive, massive improvement in my eczema on my body. I've also noticed a huge reduction in the number of spots I get on my back, shoulders, and chest, which I'm putting down to the absence of silicons in Naked's products; I've always felt that hair products clog up my pores and now I'm thinking I was right all these years - bonus! - See more at: http://just-jesss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/review-naked-bodycare-volume-shampoo.html#sthash.srA8iaFD.dpuf

Again, I've found that this is perfect for my skin, too, and since switching to Naked hair products I've seen a massive, massive improvement in my eczema on my body. I've also noticed a huge reduction in the number of spots I get on my back, shoulders, and chest, which I'm putting down to the absence of silicons in Naked's products; I've always felt that hair products clog up my pores and now I'm thinking I was right all these years - bonus! - See more at: http://just-jesss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/review-naked-bodycare-volume-shampoo.html#sthash.srA8iaFD.dpuf

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Front Cover Eye Colour Revolution Makeup Set

This is a very weird review for me today, as a few years ago, back in my youth, I modeled for Front Cover cosmetics sets. I had of course previously seen Front Cover boxes in Boots around Christmas time in more recent years, but I had never actually bought one or even tried them out. It's no secret I am not a huge fan of gift sets like this anyway, it took me long enough to get on the Urban Decay Naked Palette hype, but when I saw Front Cover's Spring/Summer range I was intrigued. The Eye Colour Revolution is a boxed palette which gives you (most of) the products that you need to recreate the look on the cover. Clever, eh?

The Eye Colour Revolution set contains:

• 9 Baked Powder Eyeshadows
• 3 Satin Pressed Powder Eyeshadows
• Rounded Shader Eye Brush
• Mini Blender Eye Brush
• New Shadowglow tool complete with Mixing Pot - Something I've not really come across before, but this is a clear fluid that claims to transform eyeshadow into a glossy shade. All you do is pour a few drops into a bowl, dip the eyeshadow brush in, pick your shadow and apply. 

The first set of swatches are the 'Baked Powder Eyeshadows', and the bottom one is the slightly larger discs of the 'Satin Pressed Powder Eyeshadows'. The quality of the eyeshadows is SO much better than I expected, especially for a gift set. They all give a glowing and a light reflective finish, and they are very soft and pigmented. This may be due the 'macadamia derivative' in the eyeshadow, not just for hair care apparently. I do love that the kit includes all brushes you need to create a look as well, although they soft, they are not the softest I've ever tried, but they do the job fine. The black eyeliner is much softer than I expected, it's much softer than a lot of high street ones I've tried, and easily the best one I've tried that has come out of a set. Also, when I went on their website, I noticed a section where it helps to recreate different looks, so it's worth a little visit.

Overall, I would say that the Front Cover range is more than likely suited for a younger market, and would be perfect for those just starting out with makeup. The Eye Colour Revolution is a bit more 'mature', but if you're used to very high end brands this may not be quite as good. But, for the money, the quality, colour and pigmentation are really lovely, plus I do like the 'Shadowglow' tool. You know I like a good old gimmick.

And thank you to my mum, who let me borrow her arm to swatch on!

Front Cover Eye Colour Revolution £22.50

Have you tried any of the Front Cover cosmetic sets?

*PR Sample/Gift

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My Quest For Perfect Skin: Spot Treatments

Clear skin is a must, if I don't my entire makeup just doesn't go right. I am not sure what is going on with my skin since I got out of my teens, but it seems to have a fair few breakouts, I am not impressed when I am 23 I can tell you. This have left me on my quest for both my holy grail spot treatments but also my perfect skin solution. And I have tried so many, but like most things just go back to what I know, so I have decided to show what products I use to cure breakouts, and hopefully prevent them.

Clean & Clear Cleansing Lotion | This is little bottle of blue liquid is pure gold in my eyes. It is suitable for sensitive skin like mine, but also really targets problem skin. This lotion does exactly that, by cleansing the skin gently but effectively to remove makeup build-up of oil, dirt and grease. It is so simple to use, you do not need to use water with it or anything other than a cotton pad to pour it onto. I am always amazed at the amount of dirt this removes...nice.

Freederm Treatment Gel |  I have expressed my love for this before, and nothing has changed. The minute I get a lovely little red spot appear on my face I just pop this on the spot and let it do its magic. Freederm contains 4% w/w Nicotinamide as the active ingredient. As far as I know, Nicotinamide is an anti-inflammatory agent. For a spot treatment to reduce redness, if nothing else, I can't recommend this enough.

Biore Pore Perfect Warming Blackhead Fighting Cream Wash |  I have been purchasing this wash for years, as it helps open up your pores to clean them out more effectively. Containing salicylic acid, a proven acne-fighting ingredient I have been told, this acts as a good blackhead removal tool. The particles  in the cream wash are rough enough to clean your skin but not rough enough to hurt. One tiny but, it smells like watermelon. Which I hate. Buts its not too strong so I can handle it. 

Montagne Jeunesse Amore Rose Masque | There is only one way to describe this masque...Turkish Delight in face mask form. I am aware this particular one is made for darker skin tones, but I love the scent. Plus for £1 I can't see it shifting my spots too much anyway, this was purely for pamper purposes. Montagne Jeunesse actually do not test on animals and are vegetarian friendly, so I am practically helping the environment really.

Sudocream |  Last, and arguably my favourite, is Sudocrem. Someone only has to ask on Twitter for a decent overnight spot treatment and I won't be far away expressing my love for Sudocream, and well, just how it cures everything. This tub has beaten any expensive spot treatments I've tried, and it has yet to fail me, or my spots. I often apply this at nighttime when I can slap it on and forget I have white dollops all over my face...ahem...and when I wake in the morning my blemishes would of either of gone down and decreased in redness, or with a bit of luck, gone completely. Amazing. Did I mention just how much I love Sudocrem?

There are my five holy grail spot cures. What are you favourite spot treatments?

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Max Factor Excess Volume Extreme Impact Mascara

Over the past few weeks you may just understand why my blog was named Mascara & Maltesers. My mascara addiction has been out in full force, so far this month alone I've brought 3 new mascaras and now the Max Factor Excess Volume Extreme Impact, so that makes, erm, 4. I really need to be stronger around good advertising, but its not secret Max Factor are one of my favourites of high street mascaras, plus volumising mascaras are a must for me. Too top it off my favourite model Candice Swanepoel advertises this mascara. I was sold.

A lot of new mascara recently seem to be back on the gimmick bandwagon, claiming to practically give you new lashes, and this Max Factor one is no different. This is a double ended wand, remember those from a few years ago? You used to get flaky white lashes if you wasn't careful. This wasn't enough to stop me buying it of course, and Max Factor claim that this adds serious volume and a dark jet black finish. Sounds good to me. I was nicely surprised too when I saw the first wand was black, not white. Hallelujah no white lashes would be seen.

And Max Factor Excess Volume did not disappoint. The two different brushes help dispense the mascara in just the right way to give so much volume, getting right down into each and every lash, big or small, no discrimination here between long or short, each lash was considered equal. The short rubber bristles on the volume brush (the first) cover the lashes to get the volume with the mascara, while the pointed brush (the second) applies the wetter dark lacquer formula for extra glossy blackness. Yet it is not overly wet, and you don't have to use it a few times to get the wetness of the formula just perfect. Think of the second coat as a glossy top coat for your lashes. This reminds me of the Max Factor False Lash Mascara, but this Excess Volume Extreme Impact Mascara gives much more volume and coats your lashes better. Max Factor have excelled themselves again. Now please stop releasing mascaras. My bank account can't cope.

Max Factor Excess Volume Extreme Impact £9.99 (£3 off in Boots)

Have you tried the Max Factor Excess Volume Extreme Impact Mascara?

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Kim Kardashian Pure Honey Eau de Parfum

Kim Kardashian is one of those ladies I don't want to like, I resent liking someone which not much of a reason to be famous. But I do. I am a true Kardashian fan, my not so guilty pleasure, I love Kim's style and makeup more than anything, and she was the whole reason I started to contour and highlight my face. So much to my delight Kim is back with her fifth (no I didn't know either) perfume, Pure Honey. 

"I wanted Pure Honey to be both light and sweet but also powerfully seductive," says Kim. "As women we all have these dual natures. We can be girly and playful but also tempting and captivating at the same time. Combining the two elements was the perfect way to capture our full femininity. I created it to be delectable and craveable, like all beautiful women are."

Wise words from Kim there. But this perfume pretty much had me at hello...being a Kardashian fangirl, the image of Kim of the box is gorgeous, plus an art deco inspired bottle with a cuter than This Eau de Parfum contains notes of red rose, soft freesia and mandarin as its top notes, at the heart is sugared honeysuckle and lady orchids. At the base you will find creamy coconut, raw wild honeycomb and vanilla. And while on paper this sounds a unusual combination, it really does work and is such a lovely, yet surprising, gorgeous scent.

Some may find this scent too sweet, but if like me your one for sweet smelling perfumes, or after a perfume that does what it says on the bottle, and well, smells of honey, then this is a must try. And dare I say it? This smells much more classier than I ever imagined....

Kim Kardashian Pure Honey £24 from Debenhams.

Have you tried Kim Kardashian Pure Honey?

*PR Sample/Gift

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L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara

No, I do not have L'Oreal mascara fetish like it might seem. And there is nothing wrong at all with the L'Oreal Miss Manga mascara, but what is a girl to do when she walks into TK Maxx and sees the L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara on offer for £3? Buy it of course. I did remember seeing this when it first got released, and I then I just completely forgot that L'Oreal did this mascara. It would now seem that they have discontinued this, hence why I obviously managed to get this at such a bargain price. I am not sure why L'Oreal have discontinued this mascara, so can anyone enlighten me?

The main thing with the L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara is the wand, a ball shape makes this a copy of the Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara in my opinion, and the ball is on the end of a long wobbly stick. I was a bit dubious that this would work and that it is just another mascara gimmick, and when I first used it I did struggle to gain much from the application. The wand is rather wobbly, and with the ball being quite small its hard to get much on the top lashes and gives quite a clumpy finish. I am truly amazed that I have not yet poked my eye out.

With that being said, I do like the finish on my bottom lashes and it was good for grabbing the corner lashes. And I will admit it, once I have combed through a few small clumps it is quite volumising, and you can defiantly notice my lashes. Not a complete waste of money, plus I feel this would of also been a good dupe for the Clinique Bottom Eye Mascara (which my review of this now up) if L'Oreal still sold this. Downfall of TK Maxx shopping eh. 

Did you ever try the L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara?

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