Favourite 5 Friday: Mascaras

It has occurred to me that I seem to be a mascara whore as I can never stick to one mascara and nor do I have a holy grail mascara so it seemed fitting to me to share my top 5 mascaras. 

I thought I could turn this into a series where I share my top 5 *insert product* every Friday - until I run out!

Here I have a mix of both high end and drugstore mascaras which I LOVE! And in a random order I'll tell you my opinion of each of them.

At the top we have the L'Oreal False Lash Flutter mascara which is a plastic wand. This mascara manages to make my eyes look wider and my lashes look longer which I love! From the drugstore it costs £10.99 and is 100% worth it as it is beautiful. The packaging is lovely however the brush handle is a very weird shape which makes it hard for me to hold.

Next there is a Maybelline the Falsies mascara which is a cult favourite and rightly so! This mascara makes your eyelashes look fake and with the help of eyelash curlers can make them look beautiful. The wand is fibre (I think) which is my personal favourite and is curved so it manages to get every eyelash, and for £7.99 who can go wrong!

The one mascara I have repurchased a few times is the MAC Zoom Lash mascara and oh boy do I love this mascara, and at £14.50 it doesn't break the bank to say its from MAC. The formula is very wet so manages to lengthen and add volume to my lashes and I only need one coat of this to make my eyelashes how I like them. I don't know what type of brush it is but it looks like a weird hybrid between a plastic and fibre one - whatever it still does its job. The only downside is that the packaging gets dirty easily which isn't major but I like my mascaras to look neat.

They're Real by Benefit has been talked about for what seems like forever and rightly so! The mascara makes your eyelashes fab and really does make them look fake. However I would avoid applying it to the bottom lashes as it tends to smudge on me. Another downfall is the £19.50 price tag that comes with it so I'd say this is a treat as it is rather pricey.

Last but definitely not least is the Rocket Volume by Maybelline. The wand is plastic but does a great job at making my eyelashes look fuller and longer - one or two strokes and I'm done! This is a great everyday mascara and would be perfect for anyone starting to try out makeup and is on the cheaper side at £7.99.

 What are your favourite mascaras? x

10 Products I Regret Buying

I've been fascinated by makeup and always wanted to expand my collection of it since I was around 11 as my skin was pretty bad and all I wanted to do and spend my money on was covering it up. So, in trying to find products that cover up my skin and don't give me more problems, I've come across many products that have disappointed me and today I'd like to share them with you. (Some of these things people might like but for personally I don't).

The most disappointing buy for me out of the 10 things in the photo is the Nars Sheer Glow foundation in Medium 3 Stromboli. The colours are totally yellow based which is a shame as I have a neutral tone and when I have worn this in the past it makes me look like a crazy lady! The product itself is great but Nars, please, change up the base!

The Clinique Even Better foundation was one of my all time favourites until I realised it was causing an allergic reaction on my face and causing white bumps to appear under the surface of my skin - personally I wouldn't claim this foundation to be 'even better'.

The Collection mascara (orange tube) which claims to give you 'longer lashes' did not do anything to my lashes, but for the price of it I can't complain as now I know to not buy another one.

Next to the Collection mascara is another disappointing mascara - the Maybelline Colossal Cat Eye mascara. This mascara has a great formula but lacks in making my eyelashes longer or more voluminous which is sad for the price I paid and that Maybelline normally offer outstanding mascaras.

The MUA Luxe Power Brow was another shame as the pencil was very orange toned even for brown brows and the cream highlighter on the other end dried out within a week or two but was a real shame as I was going on holiday the next day and this was the only brow product I had as the others had ran out.

The Revlon Matte Balm in Audacious was a very disappointing product as I had saw Zoella talk about this and wear this on one of her videos but when I got it home it had a weird mint smell and taste to it and when applied it began to burn my lips - the colour is beautiful though so I don't know if it was just mine or the whole collection.

The ELF Blush in Peachy Keen was an awful purchase as it was dreadful pigmentation and a very chalky finish on my face. I don't understand why because another blush I bought from there - Mellow Mauve - is beautiful and has such a natural looking finish!

Another disappointing blush is the Sleek trio in Flame, these colours are all very red based and look unnatural on the skin - however when I swatched a tester in Superdrug they looked fine, it must have been the lighting but I was extremely disappointed when I opened it at home.

My eyeliner collection is vast in brand and price, however I have a few that have disappointed me but the worst out of them all is the Bourjois Liner Feutre. This eyeliner ran out after 3 weeks - 3 WEEKS, and to start off the formula was very dry and grey looking even though I picked up black. Fair to say that when I bought it it was not worth the price but I do believe Bourjois have changed their formula for it now so it might be better than when I tried it.

Last but not least is the ELF eyelid primer in nude. This is a very greasy primer and makes my eyelids which are already quite oily look worse and makes my eyeshadow slip off by the time I get out - I wouldn't recommend this to a friend but then again, I can't complain too much due to the price.

Is there anything you regret buying?

Charl xxx

Product of the Week #1

This week I've been trying the 'natural eyes' look as I've wanted to get more into doing eyeshadow. So I had a scoot around the nearest Boots and picked up one of the new Revlon PhotoReady eyeshadow sets and was pleasantly surprised at how well the product works and looks!

I got the set in 501 Metropolitan and this includes a primer, 3 shadows and a finishing sparkle - it also comes with two double ended weird sponge applicators. The pigmentation in these shadows is lovely and they have a very creamy touch which helps them blend easily on the eye. I found when wearing this out to the beach with my friends, it lasted all day without a primer and they commented on how nice it looked. However, the top sparkle coat is very pigmented so I would only wear this if I was going out on a night as it looks too 'ott' for a daytime eyeshadow look.

For £7.99 this eyeshadow set is definitely worth picking up and it looked like they had a great variation of different shades and vibrancy's in the collections they sold, so I would say there's something for everyone. So if you're in Boots, I'd go and check out the Revlon stand and pick one of these up as they're a great size for travel and are an all rounder!

Has there been a product you've loved using this week?,
               Charl xxx