The Mascara Cronicles Part 1.

Mascara.

On the lash.

To me this is an essential product, my one desert island item. If you do your face and forget to apply a few layers of mascara you won’t look right just like if you don’t put any make up on and just paint a little mascara on you will open your eyes up and look awesome.

Although i use this on a daily basis I never realised how many i had and how many were on the market! There seems to be a new mascara add every couple of weeks on the TV and yeah they look amazing but anything would if you digitally enhance it to make it look better than it is or if your model is wearing false lashes in the ‘after’ picture when in the ‘before’ they were not wearing anything!  So I have decided to review the ones I currently possess and I’ll be showing you the results they give without photo shopping and without false lashes!

My naked eye.

Bourjois Liner effect mascara- Bleu 

Special feature- The idea behind this mascara is that the brush has a long bristled side for applying the product to the whole of the lashes and and a short bristled side for applying the product closer to the base of the lashes. This is supposed to give the effect of wearing eyeliner. Although the long bristles are great for separating and coating lashes I’m not sold on the ‘liner effect’ and would still apply some liner.

Packaging- Navy blue barrel tube with silver graphics and font and silver 3D ridge on the edge of the barrel(i find this helps it stay on my desk and not roll off!) . It’s simple and un-cluttered.

Product- I wanted to love this as the first blue mascara i've ever bought but as you can see in the picture it looks black not blue and looks a little clumpy so not the best mascara ever.

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Maybelline Lash stiletto- Black

Special feature- Ultimate Length Mascara.

Packaging- Black square tube with a metallic red band around the bottom, Silver font.

Product- The brush has lots of bristles (always a good sign) and they jut out every which way without any kind of pattern. I like this brush it tapers off so it’s not too big to apply to the inner lashes or the bottom lashes.

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Maybelline XXL pro extension micro-fibre mascara- black



Step 1





Step 2



Special feature- A double barrel mascara with a white lash extention formula on one end and a black mascara in the other end. So you can build your lashes up and then once dry you can color them with the mascara.

Packaging- Black double barrelled with gold and white font. Barrels are labelled ‘1’ which is a white micro fibre mascara that comes with a big wide spaced spiral brush and ‘2’ which is the black mascara with a smalled tighter spaced spiral brush.

Product- You can build longer lashes but it’s a pain to try and paint the base of the lashes so they sometimes end up looking white. Also takes longer to achieve results.

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Maybelline Lash Stylist Mascara

Special feature- Volume lifting comb mascara.

Packaging- Matte black barrel with silver font. Instead of the traditional barrel brush this mascara has a duel comb that allows you to have more control over separating your lashes and giving them a good comb through.

Product- i really like this mascara it makes lashes look groomed and clump free

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Eyeko Big Eyes Mascara

Special feature- Long and luscious lashes in one easy squeeze. With vitamin B to promote lash growth.

Packaging- a toothpaste style tube which is silver, pink and black font. The brush is a slim wide spaced double spiral brush. In my opinion it picks up too much product and the brushes wide bristles make separating lashes almost impossible without putting more effort in than should be required. Also there isn’t a brush wiper in the top of the tube or if there is, it’s not doing it’s job right.

Product- The mascara itself is really wet and once applied it stays wet for along time( i sneezed 3 mins after applying it to my lashes and ended up with panda eyes- not the look i was after lol) The brush holds too much product so the first brush through your lashes applies way too much mascara and you have to keep brushing them over and over to get them to look less clumpy. I really wanted to love this product but it doesn't separate the lashes which is what i always look for in a mascara, However i do like how it gives you an almost doll-like lash. I love the idea of the squeezy tube so you can use all the product up and not waste any like with normal barrel marcaras but it the tube really needs a brush wiper or a better one.

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NYX 1000 miles long lashes Mascara

Special feature- Super long lashes

Packaging- smooth, shiny black tube that flares at the end with silver font.

Product- I love this mascara for everyday looks as it does lengthen your lashes but not overly long the volume looks great and it stays on all day. The brush is curved to help curl your lashes too.

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L’Oreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara



My new favourite :D



Special feature- new brush and anti clump wiper built into the lid

Packaging- smooth, shiny gold barrel with a black stripe that has ‘Volume million lashes’ written in gold. It tapers beautifully at both ends.

Product- This is the newest mascara in my collection, i wasn’t planning on buying another mascara but last week i saw a work colleague had the most amazing lashes and i asked her what she had used and this is what she recommended. I have to say I’ll be using this a lot because I love it!! It separates the lashes evenly, it adds volume and lengthens and it lasts all day! I think it’s due to the brush as it is huge and has loads of silicone bristles all evenly spaced.

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Too Faced Lash injection Mascara

Special feature- Extreme thickening, tube building mascara.

Packaging- Black tube with pink font and graphics.

Product-This is my favourite mascara i've used this brand for the past 3 years and it's never let me down one coat is good for a day time look but a few coats more makes a great night time mascara.

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I really hope you've enjoyed reading part one of the Mascara cronicles i shall go and write up the reviews of the next bunch of mascaras.

Love Jo x x x

To be continued...

MEGA bargain haul.....

Hey guys , Im sorry that this post is a little long but it has over four weeks of shopping so stick with me on this.

So i found myself wondering around the savers shop in Sheffield i was only in there for some shampoo but ended up browsing the make up shelves anyway :D and i found some W7 products which are mega cheap and they seem to be copies of Benefit blushers and W7's 'Africa' looks just like Toofaced pink leopard! i had to try these! and at £1.99 each it was a steal. Tj Hughes also stock loads of W7 products which is where i got the 'Double act' from that was £2.99.

Dupe for Benefits Hoola!

Not as pigmented as Pink leopard but gives a nice highlight to brow bones and cheek bones.

Dupe for Benefit's '10'

 I also picked up W7's 'crackle' in 'Earthquake black' i'm not really one for nail varnishes but these crackle effect varnishes seem to be the 'in thing' at the moment so i thought i'd give it a chance and again at £1.99 i thought that it was worth the try! (i actually went back and bought the white and silver version of this aswell)

Although this looks white on this pic it's actually the silver which is a little glitzy aswell.

 Also another amazing bargain i found in savers! Right by the till was a shelf full of Eylures Girls aloud festival lashes gift sets (you get the lashes, the glue and a coloured lanyard) for 99p! At the time they only had 'Cheryl' (black winged lashed with gold sparkle) and Sarah (black and red criss cross lashes) but i went back later and they had 'Nadine' (black lashes with multicoloured gems at the base) and 'Kimberley' (black winged lashes with little feather extentions). i have the whole set now. Please don't get me wrong i don't like Girls Aloud and i'm not even sure if i really do have the whole set of lashes as i don't know who is in the group or how many! lol But they are really cute lashes and i've already got some neat ideas for looks i could use them in!

So yesterday i went into the city centre after work and to see what i could find so headed to T J Hughes, mostly i think they sell a lot of rubbish, market brand tat but every now and then you stumble across a steal! In this case Urban decays Liquid eyeliner in gash and lucky for only £2.99 each. They have also had the Urban decay brow boxes in TJ’s too.

Also in Tj’s they had a huge range of W7 cosmetics and one in particular was a bronzer/highlighter which looks like a dupe of Benefits ‘10’.

You really just have to look around to find these steals my favorite places to hunt for bargain products are-

-TK Maxx

-Savers

-TJ Hughes

- Ethel Austin (yep i’ve found Bourjois and urban decay here)

-Your local market, you really never know what you’ll find but be on the look out for fakes and avoid them as they aren’t made to the high standard the originals are and you could be putting anything on your face.  At my local market i managed the pick up a bourjois nail varnish for 65p! and a collection2000 mascara for £2.00.

While browsing several make up sites and articles i kept seeing the brand Stila mentioned and especially their smudge pots. I tried to buy direct from their US site but like an awkward few brands they don’t deliver to the UK. After a quick google i found a place to buy stila from even if it was a little unexpected. It seems our online argos stock Stila aswell as other top brands such as Benefit. These have to be reserved online to be collected instore. To me this is a welcome addition to Argos and i just hope in time these products will be available in-store. I reserved the Stila smudge pot in cobalt and a a Benefit eyeshadow in blushing bride.

I also wanna tag on a couple of orders i received through the mail from Eyeko

I've have been hearing alot about these products so i thought i'd give them a go. I have to say i entered a ambassador code which as this was my first purchase i should have received a free gift but i didn't so i've sent an email to Eyeko to see what they can do. Anyway on with what i did get i chose the Big Eyes Mascara which is lengthening...

..Eyeko cream which is a cute light pink 3in1 cream(highlighter/moisturiser/eyecream) with a slight shimmer to brighten your skin.... 

and Eyeko tinted cream which does everything the original cream does but it's a bronzer rather than a highlighter.

Also last but not least i found a really cool cheap website http://www.halfpriceperfumes.co.uk/ that had the Bourjois liner effect mascara in blue for £1.00 and when you bought that and entered a code you got a free ombre stretch eyeshadow which is worth £6.49.

Then they also had Rimmel single eyeshaows for £1 each too :) i love these they are so cheap and the colors are really bright and highly pigmented.

Thanks for reading this huge haul post and i realise i haven't written about anything other than hauls but i've been writing something for the blog and it's just taking me a while due to other things going on in my life. Any way thanks for reading my blog :D

Love Jo x x x