MUA Power Pout Lip Crayon in Crazy in Love

I am very behind with the whole lip crayon trend, and the reason? Well they just don't ever do nude crayons/ All the colours just seem bright and harsh, something that I never thought I could wear as having a 'young' face I often end up looking like I am playing dress up. But a shopping trip to Topshop in Brighton actually lead me to the MUA Power Pout Lip Crayons. To cut a long short (hopefully), there was a beautiful girl just browsing the store and she was just stunning. I always look a bit trampish shopping so I was a tad envious, but what caught my eye was her lips. Stunning deep berry red. I was hooked, so much so I pretty much stalked her round the store to get a better look. So if you was the poor girl who did her makeup beautifully in Topshop last week, I am very sorry.

Anyway, I was very well aware of the MUA Power Pout Lip Crayons as they are floating round the beauty blogger world, coping the Clinique Chubby Stick for a fifth of the price, so they were my first port of call after I stalked the poor girl round Topshop. Firstly they are only £3, perfect as I didn't want to part with much money incase I never wear it. I oped for Crazy in Love which it dark berry red. The first thing I noticed was the strong colour, not what I was expecting from a lip balm at all. MUA do claim however they are a 'lip treatment with colour intensity that relieves dry, cracked lips providing immediate moisturisation' - which I can only agree with. They're like a tinted lip balm but with a lot more pigmentation. 

The colour it's self is really nice. The "swatch" on their website looks brown and the packaging looks a bit brown too but the actual tint is a nice berry tone and you can wear it quite sheer but I like to layer it up a little bit. In terms of staying power id say this product is pretty good, lasts a good few hours without needing re application. It does feel nice, soft and moisturising but I don't think it would provide as much support as a single purpose lip balm in the harsh winter months. Its Nice and soft and almost feels like a lip butter as opposed to a lipstick . I just adore this, and I am stocking up on the whole range for sure.

MUA Power Pout Lip Crayons - £3

Have you tried MUA Power Pout Lip Crayons? Or do you own the Chubby Sticks?

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Illamasqua Brow Cake in Motto

Hey beauties. Okay, I will warn you now, if your not in the mood to read a very annoying 'I love everything about this product' review then you might not want to read this..

So buying makeup online is something I have never done, I have said before I actually hate online shopping full stop. Nothing wrong with it but I just purely like to be able to go into the store have a browse and dawdle. So annoyingly when I decided that I just needed to have the Illamasqua Brow Cake and realised there are no stores near me, online purchasing was the only way.

I have never read so many rave reviews about a product before, I was doing quite a lot of research before I made any purchases and every review I read was positive, both on  Illamasqua as a brand and their Brow Cake. And after a few chats with some of you lovelies on Twitter I opted for the shade Motto which is described as a taupe colour perfect for ash blondes. This was actually one of the reasons I lusted after this so much, I may be blonde but I would still like defined brows that look natural, not a warm brown! Very frustrating, but this seemed to be answer to my problems as there is no hint of red or brassiness anywhere to be seen and this strangely matches the colour of my own brows perfectly. This comes in a pressed powder format very similar to an eyeshadow. I applied this with my brush from my Benefit Brow Zings as this is the only one I have. Not prepared at all! This is also very long lasting with no panic over any disappearing brows half way through the day either, not sure about you but this is just my worst nightmare. Can you imagine walking around with half a brow? Or worse, just the one? Eruugh!

Anyway back to the point, this is just fantastic and I really really can not recommend this enough. And for £15.50 this is very good value for money as you don't need much of the product and this does seem to be the general rate for eyebrows these days! I actually for once can not find anything negative about this, even the service I got from Illamasqua was just fantastic. I even got a cheeky a text to the minute of when it would be arriving. Although the postman did deliver this to my neighbour, poor bloke. He had to put up with my excitement as he passed me my parcel and for me too squeal 'Oooh my eyebrows have arrived!!' Ha. And no I couldn't be bothered to explain to him. .And nope, this is not a PR sample or anything, just me rambling on about how much I love this - promise! So if you have a eyebrow obsession like me, or are just looking for something to help define them you need this in your life!

Illamasqua Brow Cake £15.50

Have you tried the Illamasqua Brow Cake before? Or whats your ultimate eyebrow product? 

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Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner in Espresso Ink

Hey lovely people, just to let you know firstly my comments on my last post seem to be broken so I am not ignoring anyone - promise! Just need to figure how to fix it, if you have any idea please shout! Bobbi Brown is just one of them brands I always forget about, being in a department store is clearly too much excitement for me and I end up drifting off to MAC or Benefit. (Well Chanel if my bank account allows it). There Long Wear Gel Eyeliner is one product of their I just really like, I much prefer gel liners anyway as it is easier to clear up the many mistakes I will make during application, and often a much more natural finish.

As you can see this is not a new purchase, but one that I have made many purchases off. I have tried other alternatives in MAC and Maybelline but non match the long wearing of the contents this little pot, which is a shame as it would be nice to find a cheaper alternative as at £17.50 it isn't what I would call cheap. But I love the variety of shades you can get with Bobbi Brown - 15 in total and yes I counted, ranging from black right up to a emerald ivy shade. I have this in 'Espresso Ink' which is a very dark brown, borderline black but just not as harsh.  As it says in the name it is incredibly long lasting and the only gel liner I have tried that has stayed put all day in pretty much the same place as I put it. It also claims to be water resistant, not that this is ever a factor to bother me with any makeup if I am honest. I generally do try and keep water away from my face after I have spent hours applying makeup! But a good point with this is that is doesn't crease or become 'gappy'. I honestly think this is worth the money and if your a gel person I highly recommend this for your new eyeliner.

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner - £17.50

Are you a fan of gel eyeliners? Or what is your liner of choice?

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Toni & Guy Volume Plumping Whip

Finding something to give my hair volume is a never ending quest, companies do seem to forget that people who need the volume in their hair will often have fine thin hair, hence it will get greasy quickly so a overload of products just isn't going to work. I didn't mean to purchase the Toni & Guy Volume Plumping Whip, and picked it up in part of my Boots haul where I was attracted to it due the leopard print box. Then I noticed it said 'Limited Edition', another factor that will pretty much always persuade me unfortunately, I just can't run the risk of not buying to go back and find its been discontinued. Heaven forbid, so I just buy it just to make sure.

I haven't had much experience with Toni & Guy before as it is at the higher end of the high street hair product pricing and I will often get swayed by cheaper alternatives if I am in a drugstore, that is why we go in there right? Grab a bargain and not burn a hole in our purses! But I was hopefully as Toni & Guy describes this is "All-day body and bounce from the roots, without flyways". Perfect. 

This is a cream product, which did make me a tad wary as creams often just make my hair greasy with product overload but once this is applied it melts into the hair without and a trace and I can instantly see my hair has volume. Although Toni & Guy recommend using a "Walnut size" amount...erm either their walnuts are tiny or mine are huge but there is no way you need that much. Unless you have bum length horse hair, but my shoulder length hair needed more of a large pea size. Sorry I can't think what else is that size.

Once I had dried my hair I was in love with this product, my hair got so much bounce and volume but didn't feel weighed down in the slightest. It was just like my own hair was naturally volumised. This didn't make my hair greasier any more quickly either, which is another pet peeve of mine. So far I really can't pick faults with the Volume Plumping Whip, which of course is fine by me as I love finding new products for my awful hair. If you didn't guess already I would highly recommend this for you flat hair beauties, this has been my hair saviour recently!  

Toni & Guy Volume Plumping Whip - £7.19 (And get it quick so you can get the pretty packaging!) 

Have you tried the  Volume Plumping Whip yet?

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Seventeen Phwoarr Paint Concealer

Seventeen just seem to be turfing out the new products at the moment, not long ago was a eye liner/mascara range, now they have realised seven new face products. The new concealer, Phwoarr Paint, promises to win the war on undereye circles so I was excited to see if it can really do the job as well as, or even better, than my beloved Benefit Boi-ing, which no I still have no replaced if you saw my Miss Sporty concealer review where I was moaning about it running out. I think, and please don't quote me on this but it's the first creamy pot concealer from a drugstore brand, and this only set me back £5.49 which is much more friendly on my poor purse.

The colour range is again limited, medium is okay on me and with my foundation but may be too dark for the more porcelain beauties, although it does redeem itself as it is comes in compact with a small mirror for on the go makeup application, which for concealer is ideal. Not sure what is wrong with the UK...again no colour choices for darker skins tones. Think the makeup making geeks (or whatever they are called, which I guessing is not that) need to wake up.

The texture is not super creamy, but creamy enough to apply it and for it to blend well under my eyes and cover up my ever growing dark circles, seriously these bad boys will be on my cheeks soon. Luckily the Seventeen Phwoarr Paint doesn't crease up either, when I applied it with my fingers but it does go on a bit better with a brush, but what are the chances of carrying one of them around on the go? Yeah not likely so good job your fingers can do the job. The only downside being that if you get dry skin under your eyes this may go a little cakey, but nothing a bit of primer or eye cream can't fix. Although on the flip side it does stay on for a long time and I didn't need to reapply either. Overall can't say this beats my Benefit Boi-ing but this is the best alternative (on a budget) that I have tried. Good one Seventeen.

Seventeen Phwoarr Paint - £5.49

Have you tried Seventeen Phwoarr Paint Concealer?

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Clinique High Lengths Mascara

Afternoon beauts, not only is it the weekend (almost) this is my 100th post. In 5 months of blogging is that normal? Seems that I talk a lot! So when I was thinking about what I could do for the landmark 100th it seemed completely natural that it was about mascara. Not only my favourite makeup addiction but obviously also the inspiration behind my blogs name! Now I know that I haven't exactly been quiet about the fact that I don't lengthening mascaras. I am a very lucky girl and am blessed with long lashes, but they are skinny and blonde so all I care about is volume, and lots of it preferably.

I wouldn't normally opt for Clinique for mascara as I always associate them with their skincare, which I love, but as they are what I consider a natural brand I wouldn't think that their mascaras would live up to my fake overloaded mascara standards. Well you might be thinking why on earth do I have this? Mum. She gave it to me, and before you think how sweet of her, the reasons for this mascara charity was starting with the lovely 'oh but darling you love expensive mascara'. True yes but so does she so after a skeptical glare from me came the real reason that she didn't like it. So I wasn't expected much from this at all. But still took it as its free mascara. Obviously.

So Clinique High Lengths mascara claims to give length and volume, while being suitable for those with sensitive eyes, and even comes in brown...although for me its black. Or black. The packaging is very in keeping with Clinique, white tubes white coats! And it is unique, I can't recall seeing any other mascara with a white tube. What I do really like about this mascara is that the brush is extremely different. It looks like a grasshopper's hand and reminds me of Jiminy Cricket, and how I love a Disney character. This wand does really help to reach at the root of my lashes and extend outward creating beautiful lengths. This mascara would be absolutely perfect for those who have short stubborn lashes that refuse to extend no matter what you try, and as you can see this does actually give my lashes added volume too.

The wand is a little difficult to get used to, as it is completely opposite to what a mascara brush is supposed to be but once you get the hang of it (and don't poke your eye out, multiple times) the results are very much worth it, and this doesn't give much eyelid mess either. Clearly my mum didn't give this a chance in her hasty giving away, but hey ho free mascara for me! Although this retails at £16.50 which isn't bad for a premium brand, plus I've just noticed (sorry skim-read Clinique's website the first time!) that this mascara was the winner of the Top Sante Health & Beauty Glow Awards 2011 for Premium Cosmetics Range!

Clinique High Lengths mascara - £16.50

Have you tried Clinique High Lengths Mascara? Any other Clinique mascaras worth trying?

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Yves Saint Laurent Shocking Mascara Review

YSL are still heavily promoting their Baby Doll Eyes mascara, and it was either between this and the Shocking. And I want shocking eyelashes, end of. This comes in the famous gold packaging that I love, it really feel and looks expensive, which it is!  Also with the embossed YSL logo and shiny golden box to make it feel extra special. I know it's only card and plastic but I just love this in my makeup bag, and it looks pretty. Did I mentioned that? The only downside is it can look a bit grubby if you pick it up with moisturiser or foundation on your hands, mine often looks like a child had grabbed hold of it. It's quite hard to see the brush, but it's a plastic wand with different length bristles, perfect for combing your eyelashes, as you do.

I'm impressed. The formula is thick and so black, honestly the blackest mascara I've ever come across in my mascara travels. This translates on to the eyelashes too, and if you wiggle the wand at the base of your eyelashes you really don't need any liner. At first being slightly wet made it hard to work with but once it tried up a bit I fell in love. This does everything - lengthens, thickens, curls and pretty much just makes your lashes, well shocking! 

The lovely Yves Saint Laurent Shocking Mascara stayed put all day, and night, and even passed a night out on the town with no smudges at the end of the night. And nope, no touch up or fixes required!

This is very much a dramatic mascara and I would say if you prefer something a bit subtle then Baby Doll Eyes would be your one. Again, slightly pricey at £23, but in my opinion completely worth every single penny. Especially if your a mascara-o-holic like myself! This is my new favourite mascara. Ever. Sorry Lancôme and Benefit, you've served me well.

YSL Shocking Mascara -£23.50

Have you tried Yves Saint Laurent Shocking Mascara? 

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Fashion and Makeup Taboos You SHOULD Break

As I have started off the month with my beauty commandments I decided to carry on with the fashion and beauty rules that you should be breaking! There used to be a time when everything in your wardrobe was governed by strict rules on what to wear and more importantly not what to wear. But over the decades as fashion has evolved, many trends have broken these rules and changed the way many of us view fashions. However, such long instilled taboos can be hard habits to break, and there are still some of course that should remain NO-NOs! The fashion gurus at London Boutiques have given the low down on the latest fashion taboos that were made for breaking:

Taboo: Handbags and Shoes Should Always Match

If you still play by this rule, then this should be the first one you break. Go out and a buy a bright and bold handbag right now and don’t worry about the shoes. This taboo is a long instilled one that we still see people thinking they need to stick to today. But with such exciting new styles and designs of shoes and handbags that come nowhere near matching with anything else, then why restrict yourself? If you like something, you should enjoy it regardless of whether it matches anything. Even if it clashes, that is another taboo that can be firmly nipped in the bud!

Taboo: Glitter and Sparkle Is For The Evening Only

If you feel like sparkling in the daytime, you go for it girl! In this era, its all about the glitter and the sparkle, regardless of the time of day or the occasion. There are gorgeous shimmery tops and blouses that are perfect for the office, and cute glittery pumps that can be worn anytime, anywhere. You don’t have to go overboard and where that bright sparkly flapper dress to the supermarket, but there are subtle ways of bringing a touch of glitter and sparkle to your day.

Taboo: Black and Brown Don’t Mix

We have always wondered where this silly notion came from? Really, black and brown are the perfect colours to mix, especially during winter. We regularly don brown boots with black jeans or a black leather jacket with a brown blouse. And what about the recent trend of black boots with block tan around the top? This is one fashion rule that was most certainly made to be broken.

Taboo: Clashing Colours are a NO-NO

This taboo was broken quite a while ago now, when the first spate of trends came around that teamed vibrant clashing colours, and more recent trends have dared to do the double clash, colours AND prints. However subtle or bold you choose to go with it, don’t be afraid to wear clashing clothes and accessories, whether its red shoes with a pink dress or even just gold and silver jewellery together (or a subtle nod in the black/brown direction), it’s a trend taboo that has long since been broken.

Taboo: Maxi Dresses are a Summer Trend ONLY

This taboo is much more recent and seemed to creep up a few years ago around the time maxi dresses made their first major appearance, which happened to be during the spring/summer season. But just because they were first seen during summer, doesn’t mean they have to be restricted to this. Look around the shops now with all the fabulous new AW13 fashions on display and you will find maxi dresses play are still going strong, if not more so than in the summer!

Yes I have used this picture again. The reason? I love her!

Now we have fashion covered, onto makeup...

Taboo: Match foundation to your jawline.

Your jawline’s angular shape can cause unintentional shadows, leading to a too dark shade, and I have learnt this from experience unfortunately! The best indicator? Your chest. The goal is to find a shade that seamlessly blends into your natural skin tone - and matches the rest of your body, says Strand. The chest is the only other area that’s exposed to the same amount of sunlight as the face. By matching your base to your chest’s skin tone, you won’t risk looking ghostly pale or unnaturally dark.

Taboo: Focus on Eyes Or Lips - Not Both

The traditional advice is that you should always pair a smoky eye with a nude lip, and pair a statement-making lipstick with understated eye makeup. But unless your idea of a “smoky eye” is three pounds of thick charcoal shadow (in which case you might want to take it easy in general), there’s no reason you can’t have both. Frankly, to focus only on one feature tends to make the rest of the face look a little unfinished. There’s nothing wrong with dramatic dark eyeliner and look-at-me-red lips inhabiting the same face during a night out on the town.

Taboo: Don’t Wear Eyeliner or Mascara on Bottom Lashes

Some conventional wisdom warns that dark eyeliner or mascara on the bottom lash line can age a face. Unless you have unusually small or very deep-set eyes, this rule is nonsense in my opinion. Applied properly, without clumping or smearing, there’s nothing about lining or tinting your bottom lashes or lash line that brings out crows’ feet, baggy eyes or dark circles. Invest in a mascara with a fine brush that will let you precisely shade each lash, Benefit They’re Real! is actually perfect for this, and if pencil eyeliner looks too harsh, go with a soft powder liner instead.

Volia! There you have some of  the fashion and makeup taboos you should break, what are yours? Anymore you can think of?

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ARTDECO Camouflage Stick

ART DECO are a brand I wasn't, and still not to be honest, that aware of but after they popped up in my local Debenhams I was intrigued. A makeup brand I hadn't used? Well that just had to change. After some deep intensive research (Google and Wikipedia) I found that ART DECO is used on the sets of Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice to name a few.

I have only had this a few weeks but can't seem to now find any trace of them selling in stores, but I definitely purchased mine in person...you can still make a purchase through good old Debenhams though. I wasn't particularly after any particular makeup item, but when are we ever? But the  Camouflage Stick really caught my eye. I have seen various different offerings from different brands, often in the form of a green stick, and this is not far from that but I feel that this waterproof stick does claim to do a bit more with offering to cover imperfections, such as under-eye circles, redness, scars and skin impurities. Yep, I had to purchase.

The packaging isn't exciting, I won't lie. Black plastic is a bit meh, I guess its practical, but I don't like practical, I want sparkles, shine and glitter all while remaining elegant and classy, of course! But I'm not overly fussed, I would much rather the product be fantastic! 

The ARTDECO Camouflage Stick comes out less green than traditional camouflage products with yellow tones nearer to your own skin colour. The tip of this is great as it is fine enough to obtain precise corrections but wide enough to get good product coverage where it is needed. I just apply to the parts and areas of my face that need to be covered and distribute and blend in with my fingers after moisturiser but before foundation. I was very nicely surprised to find that this work perfectly, it does exactly what it claims, it covers up my red fine veins that I have on my cheeks and covers up my lovely spot scars too. Plus it even helped cover my dark circles under my eyes. Hallelujah! This is perfect for all your face as it is really soft and creamy to apply, it does look a tad cakey but once I had applied my usual concealer and foundation you couldn't even tell I was wearing it. Extra bonus point too for ART DECO as this lasted all day, and it is a waterproof product. Not that I want to find that out.

Big thumbs up from me for the ART DECO Camouflage Stick. And can be purchased at Debenhams - Art Deco Camouflage Stick £10.25

Have you tried  ARTDECO Camouflage Stick or any ART DECO product before?

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Maybelline Mega Plush Volume Mascara

With my mascara addiction not being pleased too much recently this one stopped me in my tracks. Not just for the (awful) spelling of 'volume', but also for the fact that for drugstore mascaras Maybelline is my favourite. Not pricey and good enough to create some eyelash drama. So seeing the new Mega Plush Volum' Mascara on the display stands there was no way I was passing this by.

Described as the UK's first and only gel mousse mascara, created pumped up lashes without being crispy or flakey. Gel mousse? Gel to me would be describing a skin product, maybe such as their Dream Matte Mousse Foundation? Maybelline could really be onto something here, either that or they like their slogans. The packaging of this mascara is hardly understated, with a aqua green tube and bright pink lettering. It does remind me of a slight 80's vibe? Then again Maybelline do seem to like the green/pink combo, just look at the much hyped Great Lash. It's just a more modern version package.

So the main thing for me is wand, yes I can be swayed by (pink) packaging but overall I will go for what's inside the tube, and well, I didn't guess this one! Described as a flexible wand I just thought 'I've heard that one before!' And thought nothing more. But oh my, the wand literally bends at a 90 degree angle no joke. The brush is fairly thick and full and in no particular shape like their Falsies. But if my memory serves me well this is similar to the Colossal Volume.

On to the application, this applies really well, the extremely bendy wand does take a bit of getting used to like any new mascara but I do like a change. My lashes were left feeling very full and volumised without the cakey crisp feel that I do normally achieve thanks to my mascara addiction. Still not convinced on the 'gel mousse' part, to be honest I don't see how this made a difference. If anyone does know please inform me.

Maybelline Mega Plush Volum' Mascara - Currently £5.99 in Boots and £7.99 in Superdrug.

Have you tried the Maybelline Mega Plush Volum Mascara yet?

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