Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara

"Rimmel London Lash Accelerator Mascara with Grow Lash Complex"

Firstly,  I am a sucker for anything that is advertised claiming to make things grow longer, so when I saw the mascara advertised made your lashes look instantly (yes, instantly!) 80% longer and to 'promote natural lash growth for up to 117% longer looking lashes in 30 days' (yes, 30!) I was amazed, as obviously I wouldn't have spent over £100 over a few months for eyelash extensions, if all it was going to cost was £8.99.

After examining the size of the brush, I instantly thought "oh no", as for me the brush is not thick enough. I like something that is really going to get under my lashes, probably as wide as my lashes are long, to really drag and sweep them up.

Secondly, if you examine the wand closely, you will see that there is barely an ounce of product actually on the wand.

So, what did I think?

Well, in all honestly, in the last month I've had this product, I've used it maybe twice.

• I did not like the brush at all, so that instantly put me off using it. 
• As there was barely no product on the wand, I needed to apply about 8 coats, and I didn't feel like sitting there applying 8 coats, when my Lancome Hypnose was sitting there and only needs around 3 coats to give the wow factor. 
• I can't say whether it made my lashes grow 117% longer in 30 days as I haven't used it enough, and honestly I doubt you'd have any mascara left after 2 weeks because there is barely any product in there at all.
• My lashes did not look upto 80% longer instantly, they did not look longer at all, especially as I had used my eyelash curler and that already makes my lashes look longer because they are curled.

I can't really think of anything positive to say, not even the price, as £8.99 I thought was quite pricey, especially as it is a new product and they usually promote offers on brand new products. I actually think there was around £2 off when I purchased it, meaning that perhaps it would retail for around £11 normally, which is shocking!! 

However, I do know some people that do like to use a smaller brush so perhaps this is a better product for you, but for me the size of the brush is the first thing that makes or breaks a mascara for me.

Have you tried this? What do you think? 

YSL Touché Éclat Foundation

After returning home from a 2 week holiday to Egypt in 45 degree heat, and coming home to minus 77 the tan on my face has completely finished and then some! So, my nice dark foundation is around 4 shades darker (Benefit playstick in jump rope), which meant on Thursday it was time to sort my face out! I normally wear Estée Lauder double wear, and my sister just started working at benefit and kept coming home with lovely looking skin, which probed me to buy the foundation she was wearing. However, I had read reviews in Look magazine and a few other magazines about the new YSL foundation, being that it was as good as touché éclat itself. During the last week I have been so fed up with my skin, looking so pale all of a sudden and my foundation being far too dark, so decided to just go for the touché éclat foundation.


Making my way into boots, around 8.20pm on a late night shopping trip, and having just had my eyebrows threaded, I discovered there was no one to help me at the counter.
Because I'd had my eyebrows threaded, most the foundation and coverage around my eyes had come off, so this gave me room for colour experimentation!! After umming and ahhing between 2 different shades out of 22, (which is an amazing amount of different shades, although I am sure boots didn't stock all 22 shades) I went for B50, which was a very perfect match for my skin colour.

What do I think?
I have worn the foundation for 2 days now, along with a new powder which I bought last week from Mac (will review this later in the week), as well as concealer, bronzer and blusher. After the 1st day, which involved a caarrrrazzzy day at the shop, in hot weather, after an 8 hour shift, I came home and inspected the staying power. I was very impressed to see that it looked almost as good as it did when I first applied the foundation. When I buy a foundation, it's staying power is probably the most important factor for me, as I don't have time in the day to reapply or touch up, when I am at work. This for me was definitely worth the £28 investment.

The foundation which comes out of a pump, of which 1.5 pumps is enough for good coverage. I applied by finger tips, when usually I apply by brush, because at the time it was easier. The foundation was very smooth and had a dewy look to it, and instantly brightened my skin. It also has a nice light fragrance which was a positive because it smells quite refreshing. If I was going out for the evening I might double the coverage because it wasn't very thick, which I think is a good thing in this case because it was nice to be able to build up as and when needed.

I would absolutely 100% reccomend this foundation, it is worth the money. I think when it comes to makeup, particularly foundation, the money is worth spending if you can afford it, on a high quality product, because at the end of the day it is your face, your first impression, and what people look at before they look at anything else. Most of all, having good looking skin for me, is where my confidence starts.

Have you tried this foundation? What do you think?

Nouveau Lash Extensions

For my 21st birthday last year I decided to have eyelash extensions. The nouveau eyelash website claims that they are semi-permanent lashes that last upto 6 weeks. The lashes are waterproof so taking showers/swimming etc do not affect the lasting time of the eyelashes.

The beautician who applied my eyelashes told me about different tips that make the eyelashes last longer, such as not using mascara on them, as there is a chemical in mascaras that can affect the glue causing the eyelashes to fall out.

After the eyelashes were applied, they felt quite heavy and my eyes felt as though they were wet, like I had been crying. The following day these feelings had gone and I couldn't feel the eyelashes.

Around 3/4 days later the eyelashes looked a lot better as they had fanned out and appeared a lot more natural.

After a hot shower, every now and then some of the eyelashes came out. I also found it difficult to apply mascara to the bottom of my eyelashes with out them touching the top lashes.

Around a week and a half later several eyelashes had come out, but were not too noticeable, although I did have to make a trip back to the beautician because some had fallen out and I noticed a gap that looked odd.

For one of the events that I wanted the eyelashes for, I ended up wearing a strip of false lashes, as I didnt quite get the thick full long glam look that I wanted. I felt that the lashes were better for a glam day look, but nothing that a subtle pair of strip lashes couldn't achieve.

3 weeks later and I went back to the beautician for a set of infills. The set of eyelashes looked a lot better the second time round, being fuller, and more even along the eyelid.

Washing eye make up off my eyes and bottom eyelashes became a problem. When wearing a strong long lasting liquid eyeliner thats tough to remove anyway, was worsened with the eyelash extensions.
It was almost impossible to remove eyeliner or mascara without taking out a few eyelashes along the way. The glue would get caught on the cotton wool which was really uncomfortable, and when you eventually managed to unhook the glue from the cotton wool and take out the eyelash, I noticed about 4 of my own eyelashes attached to the individual nouveau lash!

After a trip to new york and several birthday celebrations, I had the lashes professionally removed by the beautician. It felt really nice to have them taken off, like when you have a hair cut and all your horrible split ends are removed! However, I noticed that my own lashes appeared very short and I ended up wearing strip lashes for around a week later.

Pictures 1,2&3 are immediately after, and picture 4 was after the 2nd maintenance around 6 weeks later. 

Would I recommend them? Yes, but for special occasions such as a holiday/wedding or if you like the day time glam look. The maintenance is not that expensive, I think it is an affordable luxury if you have the patience and time to make repeat visits to the beautician or have a mobile beautician.

Laser Teeth Whitening

Last month I decided to bite the bullet and go for laser teeth whitening. It has always been something I have wanted to have, as I had braces for 4 years from the age of 11, leaving me paranoid about the colour of my teeth. Although I am not a smoker, do not drink red wine, and hate coffee, the colour of my teeth were never particularly bad. 

After the treatment had taken place, which was a peroxide formula, followed by a non-peroxide formula, we compared the original colour of my teeth to the new colour of my teeth on a tooth colour chart. The colour had increased by about 5/6 shades. 

Pros:

• I loved the new colour of my teeth
• The procedure did not take long at all 
• The procedure was carried out in someones home so was a very relaxed environment (Jeremy Kyle in the background!!) 
• One month later the colour hasn't really changed at all

Cons: 

• There was a slight discomfort during the procedure
• Around 24 hours after the procedure I experienced sensitivity pangs

The cons would never prevent me from having the procedure again - pain is beauty!!!

I would definitely recommend having this procedure, it really is worth the money!

Before on the left hand side, and after on the right hand side

Immediately after on the left hand side, and 1 month later on the right hand side