Max Factor: False Lash Effect Mascara Review

I used this mascara a few years ago and I remembered about it recently so I decided to repurchase it. "Max Factor's biggest ever brush with 50% more bristles gives a sweep of never-ending volume for a glamorous look you never thought your own lashes could give you. " Click here if you want to find out more about this mascara. I bought this for £10.99 in Boots in a 3 for 2 offer.

Length: 4/5 This mascara did add some length to my lashes, my lashes are so fair that you can't even see them without mascara so this did make a difference. Although my lashes are already quite long I did find this mascara to be build-able which gave even more length.

Overall Performance: 3/5 I liked this mascara overall, but I didn't find it easy to apply, as you can see in the video it began to clump in areas during the second coat, but a bit of blinking sorted it out eventually. I did feel that it made my lashes look ever so slightly clumpy, I definitely wouldn't put on a third coat. I also find this mascara difficult to remove at night as it is quite pigmented and it also flaked slightly during the day, but it did hold my lashes in place all day. 

Volume: 4/5 This mascara did add good volume to my lashes but I would say that it was a clumpy sort of volume which actually looks good with the right look. I don't think it gave them a 'false' look as I would have liked it to even out my lashes more and give the volumised fan appearance.

Expense: 4/5 For £10.99 this mascara is probably more on the expensive side, but it did give me a nice defined look which was visible from further away (I hate it when you get your lashes looking great only to step back from the mirror and they disappear). It also lats really well but I don't like how difficult it can be to take off, it feels like I'm having to scrub my lashes a bit too much. I would still like to try other Max Factor mascaras to see how they compare. 

If you have a mascara that you would like me to review just let me know - I would love to try it.

L.O.V.E RESULT
     15/20

Japan 2014 Holiday Photos

Here are some of my photos from my holiday to Japan, we had an amazing time and I can't wait to go back. My sister currently lives there so it was great to see the life she has now and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to go. 

YSL Rouge pur Couture Glossy Lip Stain (9)

I am in love with red lips at the moment and have a growing collection of red lip glosses, lipsticks, lip stains and balms. I decided to treat myself and buy a YSL Glossy Lip Stain, I have wanted one of these for a while but never knew what colour I wanted, there's too many to choose from, but I finally just went for number 9. You can view the whole range HERE. I bought mine from Debenhams for £25.00, I also have my Debenhams Beauty Club Card so I get points every time I make a purchase.

YSL Glossy Stain in 9

I know some people think that £25.00 is a lot of money for a lip gloss/stain, but I love buying premium beauty products and I love designers. I also love some of the other YSL products and think they are all great quality and are worth it. This product gives me beautiful red, glossy (but not too glossy) lips which lasts until I eat a meal or take it off. 

The applicator is a really good shape, it's just perfect for applying it evenly and symmetrically to the lips, it also holds enough product and doesn't give an uneven finish. When I wear this I just feel glam, I really love the look it gives me and I love taking it out of my bag to apply it, the packaging is just beautiful. The colour 9 is a lovely bright true red, the kind of colour and tone that suits me best. They have so many colours though that you are sure to find one to suit you. If you don't want to pay the £25.00 price tag for this product a good dupe for these YSL Glossy Lip Stains is the L'Oreal Paris Glam Shine Stain Splash at just £7.99, you can see the full range of colours HERE.

I would say that the L'Oreal ones have less colours to choose from and don't last as long and aren't as pigmented, but I now have a few of these L'Oreal lip stains and I love them, they are so easy and probably do a better job of actually staining the lips so when anything does come off you still have the lovely colour underneath. Although I'm a big fan of the L'Oreal Glam Shine Stain Splash range, I really do like a little bit of luxury and feel that the YSL Glossy Lip Stains delivers just that. The colour is so rich, pigmented and think so it really gives a great colour payoff.

I want to buy more of these now in different colours!

Bourjois: Rouge Edtion Lipstick Rose Neon

In a recent three for two offer in Boots, I bought this lovely Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in Rose Neon which is a lovely bright Barbie pink colour. It was £7.99 and there is a good range of colours to choose from HERE. I bought this because I just loved the colour, I really love pink and I didn't own a lipstick this shade of pink.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in Rose Neon

The pigmentation is good, it feels just like a standard lipstick but looks just a bit more natural and not as thick as other lipsticks. I wear this with more day time looks and think its a perfect colour for spring/summer. It is actually quite moisturizing and claims it provides 10 hour hydration, I don't think they hydration lasts 10 hours but it really depends on how often you apply it. It does come off after eating which most lipsticks do so that doesn't bother me at all.

I own a lot of matte lipsticks because I love the effect but I thought I would branch out and try something different, this lipstick isn't too shiny but gives a soft sheen to the lips. I really like the packaging, its easy to find in my drawer as it has the colour on the bottom and I like the square shape to the bottle. I do find that the actual cut of the lipstick is a little too wide and doesn't really have that point that most lipsticks tend to have, this makes it a bit more difficult to apply a crisp line.

Overall I like this lipstick and I love the colour, I think I would like to try some of the other colours in this range as I love the more natural effect they give to my lips.

The Body Shop: Mint and Watermelon Lip Gloss

I recently purchased a couple of The Body Shop's lip glosses. It's been a while since I used a squishy tube of lip gloss and I wanted to give these a go, just for day time natural looks that I can apply with no mirror. The Body Shop has a huge range of lip glosses in all different flavours, click HERE if you want to see them. They are £7.00 each which I think is a fair price because lip glosses last ages.

Mint and Watermelon Lip Gloss by The Body Shop

I choose the mint and watermelon flavours because I love watermelon products and I fancied trying the mint one because it was clear and thought it would be more refreshing. Firstly, the mint one doesn't taste as nice as I had hoped its a more natural mint than what I am used to but at the same time I don't mind this because I do love more natural products. It gives a nice glossy sheen to the lips, it doesn't last long but these kind of lip glosses never really do and I don't mind that because I don't want them to be sticky and thick. 

I prefer the smell of the watermelon one, surprise surprise! I already love everything watermelon, and this has a nice sweet taste to it without tasting full of chemicals. Although it has a peachy pink colour in the tube the colour isn't as strong when you apply it to your lips, it does have a faint colour though and this was the look I was after, something natural and wearable for every day. Again this doesn't last long on the lips but they are both handy for applying over the top of lipstick if you want that extra glossy sheen. You don't need a mirror to apply them either which make it so much easier and quicker.

I like these lip glosses, I want to purchase some of the other flavours as the have a huge range, I think the Raspberry one will be next. It's nice to have this style of lip gloss again, it reminds me of being back in high school!

The Body Shop: Chocomania Body Scrub

Chocomaina Body Scrub

I have been obsessed with The Body Shop recently and I have been discovering loads of new products, one of them has been the Chocomaina range, I currently have the lip balm, soap and the body butter and now I have the body scrub as well.

Chocomania Body Scrub by The Body Shop

This body scrub smells AMAZING, that's actually what made me buy it, you can find out more about this amazing product here. I bought it for £12.50 but I also got 20% off as there was an in-store promotion for Love Your Body members.

"This exfoliating body scrub has a decadently chocolatey scent and leaves skin feeling softer and smoother. It contains real cocoa butter and organic cane sugar."

This is quite a thick body scrub and does leave a slight residue on the skin so I wouldn't use this before fake tanning, however the residue it leaves isn't oily or dirty feeling, it just feels like a sort of moisturising barrier. My skin is generally quite soft but after I use this I can really feel the difference, and when you are using it, it feels really invigorating on the skin. The chocolate scent doesn't last on your skin throughout then day, but for me I'm not really looking for that in a body scrub.

I have been using this once a week, although during summer I think I will start using it twice a week, I prefer to use this one at night before using some body butter and I save my Coconut Body Scrub (also by The Body Shop) for before fake tanning.

I just love the Chocomania range, they all smell fantastic and every product I have used has lived up to my expectations.

MUA Lip Liners

I have never bothered with lip liners before now, but when I saw they were only £1 at the MUA display I thought I could buy a couple of colour and see how I get on. There were four colours to choose from, you can view them all HERE.

The colours I choose were, Red Drama because I wear red lips a lot, and Softly Lined because I thought it would be nice for natural pink toned looks.

Red Drama and Softly Lined

Red Drama

Softly Lined

First of all, I really like a lot of the MUA products and buy and use loads of them, but for me I really didn't like the Softly Lined colour, it just gave a shimmer to the outsides of my lips which I wasn't really looking for, I guess when you swatch something onto your hands the colour comes up pure but when it actually applies to the lips your natural lip colour is darker and so the colour wont show up the same. I don't see how I can use this one and I know it looks nice in the swatch above but it really doesn't show up at all on my lips.

I do love the Red Drama colour though, as a big fan of red lips I think lip liner is essential in creating the cleanest, smoothest effect and before now I never even bothered with it. Whenever I'm going to wear a red lip now I will take an extra minute to line my lips with this MUA Red Drama lip liner. They are so easy to apply and liners themselves are soft and pigmented and come with a sharpener in the lid which is handy, they are such great value at only £1. Next time I'm in Superdrug I think I will buy the darker pink colour and hope that it will show up better on my lips.