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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Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion

I am, as ever, still on my hunt for my holy grail moisturiser. And being determined, I won't stop until I find it. The Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion is the new moisturiser from Clinique and an updated version of their infamous Moisturising Lotion, which in its yellow form is pretty well known. I had used the original one for years, but when I ran out it took me forever to justify the purchase. Although I wasn't really aware Clinique had changed the formula, and when I got this bottle I still wasn't sure why. So after a bit of Googling I found that the formula had not been updated since Clinique first started developing and selling skincare back in 1968. Although, if it isn't broke why fix it?

But apparently since then, skincare needs have changed. So the scientists at Clinique added ingredients to ensure that the new version really addressed our skincare needs as volia...the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion was born.

I am in love this lotion. It’s basic yet so effective. It is not too runny and it’s surprisingly lightweight. I really love how it sinks directly into the skin, leaving a very thin layer of moisture without being greasy or shiny.  Although, as this lotion is really made for very dry and dry combination skin, it may be too rich for those with oily skin. This lotion has stopped my H.G moisturiser, well, for now.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion available for £17

Have you tried Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion?

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No7 Stay Precise Felt Tip Eyeliner

Well I really don't like No7 makeup, I just find is overpriced for the quality, which as it happens, is never to be very good. But of course I can still get lured with a £5 off voucher that Boots always offer, and even with my views on No7 makeup I still buy something. This time, I opted for the No7 Stay Precise Felt Tip Eyeliner (£8 costing me £3), where I am normally a gel eyeliner fan for my favourite 'cat eye' look I fancied a change as I've been finding gel liner a bit heavy and too much effort these days. Think I'm getting old.

When I got home I decided to read a few reviews on it, slightly backwards as I know, I should of done it beforehand but this eyeliner seemed to be pretty well received in the beauty and makeup blog world. And when I say pretty well, I couldn't not find one negative review, nope, not a single one. However when I tried it I have to say the complete opposite, I really hate being overly negative about a product but off I go anyway...

The first dislike with this pen is how hard the nib is, some people will love this as its doing what is says on the tin and you do get a very precise line, so whats my problem? Its HURTS, it really hurts when applying onto my lids. It felt like I was running a biro pen over my eyes. Ouch. My second dislike with the No7 Stay Precise Felt Tip Eyeliner is the colour pigmentation, or lack of. I picked up the black (brown is available too) as I like my liner fairly obvious, not in your face but I do like some definition, or I wouldn't wear any. But this was such a 'pale' black and was noticeably 'gappy' on. You can see its black but it looks faded, either as if you haven't bothered with the application or its been on all day.

Okay last third and finally gripe (nice moany post eh) is it didn't last. Maybe this was to do with the pigmentation but after a few hours the liner seemed to of disappeared and/or smudged. Don't get me wrong I really did want to like this eyeliner, and for £3 I was very excited I may of found a new holy grail eyeliner, but unfortunately but negative views on No.7 are staying put.

No7 Stay Precise Felt Tip Eyeliner - £8 normal price.

Have you tried the No7 Stay Precise Felt Tip Eyeliner?

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Measurable Difference Lash & Brow Amplifying Serum

Its safe to say that TK Maxx sells the most random things. I actually popped in to buy some Sugar Free coffee syrup (as you do) and found some Lash & Brow serum. I briefly mentioned before in my Growing Back Your Brows post that I have never tried any sort of growth serums, so naturally I couldn't resist trying this. And it cost all off £3, price of a coffee really and I figured it can't do any harm, well hopefully not.

Being a TK Maxx purchase this isn't readily available, well defiantly not in the UK as Measurable Difference seems to be a US brand. They claim the serum results showed an average increase of 46% in eyelash density after 6 weeks and it helps promote healthier, longer-looking lashes and fuller-looking brows in just 2-6 weeks. I will add I don't really need any extra eyelash help as I have been pretty blessed with long lashes, but my brows are fairly sparse so I'm keen to see if the Measurable Difference Lash & Brow Amplifying Serum works...

I'll be honest and say I don't have high hopes for this working, at all, but I will be sure do a follow up post in about month with the results, if any. 

Have you had any luck with eyelash and/or eyebrow serums before?

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Sleek Corrector and Concealer Palette

As I mentioned in my Sleek Contour palette review, I also received the Sleek Corrector and Concealer Palette I have since realised how similar both the packagings are to that of MAC and Nars, bit of a blatant copy there Sleek. Although Sleek has provided a mirror in the palettes so I guess that gives them a few extra brownie points.

I received colour number 2, but looking online at Sleek's website they do seem to have plenty of colour choices and shades. The Sleek Corrector and Concealer Palette palette contains a pink toned corrector, a concealer and a setting powder. I love this idea, and the pink toned corrector is perfect for brightening up the under eye area. This is has SPF 15 in, which is a so good for me as I am not much of a sun worshipper and I am always applying creams with SPF in, borderline obsessive I reckon.

Both of the concealer and corrector have a really thin but smooth consistency, the concealer is a little thicker and more pigmented than the corrector. The concealer gives an even medium coverage and the corrector gives a slightly lighter coverage. I really like this consistency of this product, it bends nicely under your eyes and the thin smooth texture allows a little amount to go a long way, it also doesn't dry out the skin. The powder is a smooth but is quite sheer, so it acts more as a setting powder rather than a heavy coverage powder. I do think though that if you suffer from very dark circles and/or imperfections you may find this a bit to light as it just wouldn't cover them. 

I have been reticent in general to use under-eye concealers due to their tendency to crease, and to feel heavy under the eye, but Sleek has pulled off a little victory for themselves with this and the Sleek Corrector and Concealer Palette is my new favourite product of the year.

Sleek Corrector and Concealer Palette - £7.99

Have you tried the Sleek Corrector and Concealer Palette?

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L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara

I am so happy L'Oreal have brought out a new mascara, the L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara. Manga are comics created in Japan apparently. Those black & white cartoon sketches of boys and girls with the big sad eyes and pointy fringes, and....well I am not doing this justice so maybe Google might help. It's pretty clear that I was definitely going to buy this. I'm one huge L'Oreal mascara addict as I've found that over the years, most of my favorite high street mascara products have been for them. - L'Oreal False Lash Flutter been pretty amazing for the money.

Anyway, back to the Manga influence, L'Oreal is trying to offer the huge baby doll eyes, with extra emphasis on your bottom lashes, plus another bonus is you can pick up the Miss Manga Mascara in Pop Violet and Tropical Turquoise. This may be aimed towards a younger audience, and more brave, but its good to have the choice...I guess. 

Onto the mascara itself, the brush does take getting used to when doing upper lashes because it's thicker on one end, but the tapered brush end does help get the little corner lashes and is the right size and shape for working on bottom lashes. There is a bendy part about half way down the wand, bit like the Maybelline Mega Plush Volum Mascara, which makes the end of the applicator move in different directions under pressure, but I can't understand how this helped with the application. I certainly don't feel like it's made the slightest bit of difference to mine, so I guess this is just selling tricks to make it sound more interesting. If anything, I prefer my wands not to bend. They feel broken when they do.

  

However, the result of the L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara is what I look for in a mascara, I find that this mascara definitely gives me lots volume and length but the separation can be a bit of a struggle. It doesn't smudge or flake and stays on all day. This isn't going to overtake my favourite L'Oreal False Lash Flutter mascara, but it is defiantly one of my favourites of theirs.

L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara - £5.99 currently on offer at Superdrug

Will you be trying the L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara?

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Fat Hair '0' Calories Amplifying Mousse

Bit misleading as thanks to the name this sounds like a new diet food review, but the Fat Hair '0' Calories Amplifying Mousse is part of the Fat Hair brand by Samy I have not long found in Superdrug. After a bit of googling, they seem to be an American brand, but I could be totally wrong. So feel free to correct me.

I don't normally use many hair products as my hair is so thin wispy I just find products weigh it down. But my mum brought this for herself and was quick to tell me how I just had to try it, and well, I am a sucker for a bit of hair volume. The mousse comes out at first like a clear runny liquid (even if you do shake it well), but quickly transforms into a fluffy and foamy mousse that doesn't do that 'melting' in your hand trick that many hair mousses manage.  

To use the Fat Hair '0' Calories Amplifying Mousse I simply towel dried the hair thoroughly, used just under a palm full of mousse and massaged it into the roots before combing out the ends so that all the hair was coated evenly. It is a really lightweight mousse, so it doesn't leave that really sticky texture you get from a lot of foam products, unless you squirt too much out of the can because you forget it expands... yep... of course I did that. Once its blow dried in, it left my hair looking fuller, stronger and with much more volume than normal. This didn't weight my hair down either which is a huge plus, nor did my hair feel like I had put much, if any, product on at all.

I think for £5.99 it is a really great buy.  And if you are anything like me and want volumised hair on a budget, you will love really this bargain.

Fat Hair '0' Calories Amplifying Mousse £5.99

Have you tried Fat Hair '0' Calories Amplifying Mousse? Or any of the Fat Hair range?

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My 2014 Goals & Resolutions

Image: Pinterest

So I am only 6 days behind, and hello 2014. Can you believe it? Cliche I know but wow where did that come from? I never make any resolutions as if I am lucky enough to remember what I promised myself, I never keep them...But then I have never started a New Year with a blog, so who knows 2014 may be the year I stick to them. Here is my round up of My 2014 Goals & Resolutions:

Schedule, schedule, schedule | With my job, I'm often working into the evenings and often late nights, which means that by the time I get home, I don't really have any time to get a blog post up. I often fail to get one in before midnight, by which time no one is reading them until the next day anyway! I do try and schedule as much as I can now but I really need to learn to schedule my posts better and in more of a order, as at the moment the posts appear on my blog as they appear in my head. Yep, including this one, hence why I am 6 days behind with the resolutions. 

Write more lifestyle posts | I love reading about what people have got up to with their spare time; trips, restaurants they've visited, anything like that and in general they're pretty well received by the beauty blogging community, and the fact I am quite nosey! With that in mind, I want to write more about what I get up to, along with any fun experiences (Like the one I wrote recently about my interview with the X Factor's Abi Alton) as my job does often give me some pretty amazing experiences that I just don't ever seem to share.

Comment more | Everyday I will find a new blog that I fall in love with and will read daily. And while “reading the post and leaving thoughtful comments” is easier said than done, I have promised to be a better commenter in 2014, don't get me wrong, I try very hard to comment as much as I can, but I think we all know the feeling of wanting to comment more. That means, giving time to each blog and actually enjoying it. Besides, if I don’t reach out more, why should others visit my blog?

Experiment more | Not a blogging resolution, no. But I always stick to the same look. Need to be more brave and play around a bit more with make-up and hair. I think 2014 may be the year for a fringe? Oh yes, really pushing the boat out there.

What are your 2014 Goals & Resolutions?

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Real Technique Face and Powder Brush

As per usual, the Real Technique brush obsession is something that I am a tad behind with in the beauty blog world. I have a set a MAC brushes that have been doing the job pretty well, so I haven't felt the need to get myself involved, but that has now changed. I doubt Real Technique need much introduction but they are developed/made by Makeup Artist Samantha Chapman, offering brushes for pretty much any makeup need. I managed to save up £19 worth of Boots points so decided I would treat myself, late Christmas present and all that! I picked up two brushes that I would consider quite a staple in any brush collection....

Real Techniques Expert Face makeup brush | This brush is sold separate from the main collection kits and to be honest I really didn’t think I’d like it, nor really have a use for it. I hate conventional flat foundation brushes, I always end up using a sponge, regardless of what people tell me about foundation waste...I just do not get on with foundation brushes. But because this one is a little more chubby it is the perfect combination between the buffing brush and a normal foundation brush I find, whatever the reason, I love it.

Real Techniques Powder Brush | I guess the name is self explanatory but, this brush can be used for loose powder, pressed powder, mineral powder or bronzer. I have used it with pressed powder and bronzer, as they are the two powder options I have! The Powder Brush works perfectly with these - creating a flawless finish, even if I must say so myself.

Both the Real Technique  Face and Powder Brush create such a smooth, and even finish as the brush glides across the face with ease. Even though I don't have to give these much hype, as it is pretty easy to find 1736437 other reviews saying the same thing...but I recommend these 100%! Plus, both the bases of the brushes are flat, meaning they can stand up on its own, pretty nifty.

Have you tried any Real Technique Brushes? Which ones should I go for next?

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Sleek Face Form Contouring Kit

Hey lovelies. Hope everyone is enjoying the New Year so far, if you haven't been blown away! What on earth has taken me so long to get on the Sleek palette bandwagon?! Seriously Belle. Well thanks to Santa I received the Sleek Face Form Contouring Kit and the Concealer and Correct Kit, so watch out for that review too. The Sleek 'Face Form' Contouring Kit is a sister product to the infamous Sleek Contour Kit I believe. How is this new palette better than the older one? Well, it has three powders instead of the two in the last palette. With Face Form you get one shimmery highlighting shade, one matte contouring shade and one gorgeous, shimmery bronzer/blush.

There are four kit shades available – Fair, Light, Medium and Dark. The two palettes for lighter skin tones include Sleeks infamous Rose Gold blush whilst the Medium and Dark palettes include a shimmery bronzer. I received the medium, as I do have quite warmish skin tone, and I don't like pink blushes on me at all. But surprisingly medium works perfect on my skin tone.

The textures are surprising for a high street kit; buttery, powder and really easy to blend. The contour shade does look really dark, but it blends out beautifully so you don't have to worry about obvious lines. The highlighter is really pretty and doesn't show up as obvious shimmer on your face, so you don't look like you have never used makeup before and rummaged in your mum's makeup draw!

The contouring powder is a warm medium brown with chocolate tones and a matte finish which is pretty hard to come by in the bronzing/ contouring world I have found. On to the highlighter which is a creamy beige powder with a warm pearl shimmer. The best thing about this powder is that although it is highly pigmented it needs to be built up. One sweep leaves a hint of shimmer but a couple more leaves a more natural summer glow. I find it best for using across the top of the cheek bone and under the arch of the brow.

I am in love with the Sleek Face Form Contouring Kit,  and have used it every day without fail. I think contouring and highlighting is fast becoming one of my staple makeup habits. Why did I not try this before?! Bad makeup addict!

Sleek Face Form Contouring Kit - £9.99

Have you tried the Sleek Face Form Contouring Kit?

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Clinique Lashes Top to Bottom Gift Set

My first post of the year just has to be mascara, of course. So what would you say is better than one mascara? Four mascaras is the answer to that. Four. As you can tell I was super excited when Santa delivered the Clinique Lashes Top to Bottom Gift Set. I mentioned before how much I like, and was surprised by Clinique High Lengths mascara, and have been keen to try out some of their other mascaras. The Clinique Lashes Top to Bottom Set includes:

Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black | The first mascara offers dense bristles arranged in a swirly formation. This really adds good length to my lashes, and it does add volume too, but I would say this is much more of a lengthening mascara, but I still love it. 

Clinique Lash Power Mascara in Black | Next up is Lash Power, with slightly fluffier but shorter bristles. These are good for anyone (i.e., me) who is slightly prone to poking themselves in the eye…Plus the tapered end means it’s easy to get into the corners. This is the most natural mascara that focuses more on the length, so good for daytime without looking overdone.

Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara in Black | So I may have saved the best to last...but the lash doubling mascara does just that. The brush head is sort of flat, and because the mascara head is so thin it did an amazing job of separating all my lashes and lengthened them so much. The volume was perfect too.

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in Black | Actually, I really love this, so I did a sole review on the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara, hence the lack of photograph.

All of these mascara are deluxe size samples however Bottom Lash Mascara is a full size. The other mascaras were a complete delight, and great idea as I haven’t tried before. I think it’s a nice set to try out some new mascaras for size without committing to a full size that you may not like. Not many brands seem to do this so Clinique are onto a winner here. And I am very glad Santa knew I was a mascara addict.

Best price I could find: Clinique Lashes Top to Bottom Gift Set - £16.66 (eek devils number) from Debenhams

Have you tried the Clinique Lashes Top to Bottom Gift Set?

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