Topshop Sandstorm Eye Crayons

This will only be a quick post, because its 9.15pm and I will be off to bed in 45 mins!  Gotta love an early start right?!

So, Topshop launched their own makeup range last summer, and whilst I was very impressed with the items, I never found anything that I thought "Wow, I must have that!".  Until the other week!  I had spotted the crayons in the Sandstorm collection on the website, and when I went to check them out instore I was amazed at the quality of them.  There are 2 colours, Zephyr - a dark grey shimmer and Equinox - a light gold shimmer.  Both crayons retail at £8.50,  and I'm loving using them as bases for my eyeshadows. 

I still apply my primer underneath, and combined the staying power is amazing!  Working in a hot kitchen is a fairly good test for my makeup, but over the past week or two the fans have been broken, making it even hotter, and when I come home and my eye makeup is still intact, that's when I know I've found a winner!

If you haven't already get down to your nearest Topshop and check them out for yourselves!



Equinox on the left, and Zephyr on the right.  Both £8.50 from Topshop.



Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Eyeliner

LOVE!!!

Fantastically pigmented, easy to apply and affordable, need I say more?

Well probably yes, as that doesn't really give a great review, to which this product, in my opinion, really deserves!!!

This is a new release from drugstore staple Maybelline, a brand I seem to have a fairly love/hate relationship with, but of late has done nothing but impress me! Retailing at £7.99 its currently available as an introductory price of £5.99, and is definitely worth a look at. Due to the fact I'm so torn over the brand itself, I was slightly skeptical over their version of a gel eyeliner, but having done and swatch on my hand once purchased (slightly backwards I know!) and the fact it seemed to have real staying power, I was excited to try it on my eyes!

So far I have used it to do winged eyeliner, which the only flaw is that if you make a mistake, its tough to remove without a makeup remover, and to just applied across the tops of my lids. It's true test will be when I'm back in London in a few weeks for a night out, false lashes, heat, and the inevitable sleeping with make up on after a heavy night out!

It comes with a brush, which I expected to be a bit rubbish, I tend to always throw away any applicators makeup comes with, but this brush is nice and sturdy, and because of its design it means you can quickly do either a very slimline, or a wider one, depending on what takes your fancy. I have yet to try the product with my MAC 210 brush, but hopefully it wont let me down!

I'm so impressed with not only this product, but the mascara Maybelline released along side the eyeliner, its called 'One by one', now although I haven't used this yet on myself, my sister bought a tube, and she is a very dedicated L'oreal Million Lashes mascara, we were both amazed as to how defined and volumised her lashes looked after one coat. With my 'Pulse Perfection' mascara increasingly difficult to find in this little town, I may be getting myself a tube soon!!!

L'oreal Studio Secrects Resurfacing Primer

GRRR!!! Hate this product!

Ok maybe hate is too strong of a word, but I really dislike it! Normally I use the Anti-Shine Primer from this range, but when no Boots near me had it in stock and I was in desperate need for primer, I thought, why not take a chance and give it a whirl...

Shouldn't have bothered! It retails for £12.99, whereas my normal one is £9.99, and its certainly NOT worth the extra few pounds!

It applies nicely to the face, very smooth, but its when I start to apply my make up, that the let down kicks in! Normally, I will get out of the shower, tone and moisturise my face and then prime a couple of minutes before I intend to start doing my make up, not with this, I need to leave it alot longer before I can apply anything else to my face.

I start off by doing my concealer, applying it under my eyes and to cover up any discolouration or blemishes, once I start to blend, it sticks to the Primer, and doesn't let go! so instead of blending it in and having a smooth finish to my concealer, it ends up streaky, and just being moved around my face, for the most part if you keep working with it, it will blend, eventually, but sometimes we just don't have the luxury of time! I'm glad I don't wear foundation in the summer, because goodness only knows what blending this would be like! Mayhem would be my guess! By the time I come to apply my tinted moisturiser it has been absorbed to my skin sufficiently enough not to cause any problems, but the amount of time between first application and when its "safe" to apply my concealer is ridiculous, I don't want to spend an extra 10 minutes waiting for a product to be absorbed into my skin, I just want to get the job done, and get on with my day!

I'm trying to finish the little jar up, but a little goes a long way, so in the month I have been using it, I have hardly made a dent in it! I definitely wont be buying this again, and in future if Boots don't have the anti-shine in, I will either find another brand, or wait until I can get my hands on a tube!

A bit of a waste of money in my opinion! if you have tried this product, let me know your thoughts, did you find the same? or could it just be my skin type/me not being patient enough!?

Some new products I have tried...

Over the past few weeks I have bought some new cosmetic products, some I love, and some I hate. Rather than writing one MASSIVE long blog about all of the products I've broken them down into a few smaller blog reviews. Enjoy and let me know if you have tried any of the products!

5 Most wanted Lush products update!

In my last blog post I listed the 5 Lush products I most want to try, well already I'm needing to compile a new list!!! I visited a Lush store with my sister on Sunday, and I managed to pick up, either the product itself or a generous sample, as a result the R&B hair moisturiser is the only one i have yet to try!!!

As I have yet to use my Ceridwyn's Cauldron I can't really review that, I am however planning a rose inspired bath cocktail tonight, so i may update on that later tonight!!

The first item I was keen to try was the Grass Shower Gel - well well well, I just got back from my second trip to lush in as many days and I picked up another sample of this beaut! its AMAZING, it lathers great (using my loofah) and its the type of lather that sticks to your skin, it also smells amazing, it doesn't linger on your skin but its very refreshing in the morning. The sample I got I have used twice and I still have enough for one more shower out of it, so a little goes a long way, I have vowed to eventually buy a full size bottle!!!

Another item I was desperate to try was the Crème Anglaise moisturiser, this is Lush's most expensive single product, and as i stated in my previous post, one I'm unlikely to ever own a full sized tub of! The Sample is suiting me just fine though, again a little goes a long way, and it smells fantastic, its also a smell that lingers, so you can guarantee hours later you will still be able to smell it!!

Finally the last product I sampled was the American Cream conditioner, the smell isn't one of my favourite, however its by no means unpleasant, with the sample, it wasn't enough for me to get a real idea as to how this would work, so I may need to buy a small bottle in order to make my mind up on it!

As for my Ceridwyn's Cauldron expect an update very soon!!!!