FIVE PIECE FOOLPROOF EYES

Over the Christmas break, I totally stripped back my eye makeup (getting up early on boxing day wasn't going to be a full on smokey eye look, was it?) and it's kind of stuck for school and such, and only involves 5 products, including tools.

For brows I was quickly etching them in with the Soap&Glory Archery Brow Pencil and Tint, a product I used to be sacred of for the fear of cartoon looking brows, but I've found the good light handed technique that leaves them looking the same as if I were to have used a shadow.

Speaking of shadow, I was using the MAC Malt matte eyeshadow all over the lid; it's a light taupe-pink sort of nude and just looks very barely there and natural, but still like you've got something on your lids. I just use the Real Techniques Base Shadow brush for this, as it applies colour and blends too, and sometimes I will take a bit of my bronzer of the day to define the crease slightly more.

Then, as it seems I can't go a day without a slick of liner any more, I use the Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner - one that took a bit of getting used to but with the right technique you can get an ultra black gel feline flick that balances nicely with the light sweep of shadow. Then, a few coats of They're Real Mascara seals everything together and gives me length and volume to the lashes.

What has your daily eye makeup routine been recently?

SEPHORA WATERPROOF EYE MAKEUP REMOVER

For me, I like my makeup removal to be as simple and speedy as possible, so when I saw this bi-phase eye makeup remover in Sephora in Madrid for something around the 2-3 euro mark, I couldn't resist giving it a go.

I always find the bi-phase removers such as this Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover, or 'makeup eraser' to work better for me, the oilier half makes for quick removal whilst the other part allows the greasy feeling to be diminished after you have removed everything.

I actually really like this, even more so than the Nivea Double Effects offering which I have used a good 4 bottles of. This leaves no oily residue on the eye area at all for me, whereas the Nivea one does a little - something I never took notice of until I tried this product out. I also find this is a lot quicker and holding the cotton pad for a couple of seconds then sweeping away leaves me with clean eyes and a very dark cotton pad.

I am using this 50ml bottle sparingly, and I can't help but kick myself that I didn't pick up a bigger size, so for now I will have to put up with my Nivea bottle...

EXPERIMENTAL EYES #1 - POP OF ORANGE

 Now Summer is here, I thought it'd be a good time to start being more experimental with my eye makeup and add in some colour. I always try purples and blues with little success and never really contemplated orange-coral colours until I saw 2 colours from my Sleek Blush By 3 in Lace that I thought could make an interesting eye look... and I really love the result. 

I used quite a large variety of products within the process so I'll try and keep this short and sweet. The Avon Eye Primer was the first step to blank out the lids and avoid creasing, followed by a coat of the Dainty Doll Cream Blush in Billion Dollar Babies (is it cheek products for eye shadow day today?!), as well as the MUA Colour Blast Shadow Stick in Stay all over the lid, with the Stila Smudge Stick in Oscar Fish blended into the outside corners. I then took the contour colour from the Sleek Face Form through the crease to warm things up as well as putting Half Baked from Urban Decay in the centre of the lids.

On the lower lashline I put the Stila Smudge Stick in Angelfish, followed by Chantilly from the Sleek Blush By 3 (also pushed into the waterline) as well as Crochet on the outer half. I did this with a small dense tapered brush to really pack on the colour and used the same technique to focus this bright colour on the outer crease. I took the brush I used for the contour colour very lightly to blend the edges.

The liner is a mix of the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Blackest Black and Barry M's Blink Waterproof Pen. On my lashes is a coat of Soap and Glory Thick & Fast followed by the Sheercover Lash Fibres and then Too Faced Lash Gasm Mascara on top of them.

I said I wouldn't ramble but would you look at that... I did. With simple glowy skin and a nude pout I predict this look will be getting a lot more wear from me in the upcoming weeks. Also, watch this space, this morning I photographed a pink and gold look for you so maybe this can become a mini 'experimental eyes' series?

A BELATED AUTUMNAL SMOKEY

There are a number of bandwagons in the blogging world - most of which I jump onto a good few months late, including the red/burgundy autumnal smokey eye, but I thought it deserves a post anyway.

You are probably all screaming at your screens waiting for me to quit the rambling and get on with explaining what products I used, so I'll do it now. I began by priming the lid with the Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer, which is my new favourite primer, and I followed that up with MAC Bare Study Paint Pot all over the lid. I used my trusty MUA Undressed Palette and used Shade 2 all over the lid, followed by Shade 9 on the outer half and along the lower lashline. I then took the Kiko Eyeshadow in 137 through the crease and blended it thoroughly and then went in with 133 to deepen it up slightly.
Finally, I finished off with Soap and Glory Thick & Fast Mascara and the look was complete.

I may be late on this, but I will continue to go for the winter looks until I see a ray of sunshine through the clouds and I personally declare it Spring.

 

NIVEA 'DAILY ESSENTIALS' DOUBLE EFFECTS EYE MAKEUP REMOVER

Being a waterproof mascara kind of a gal, I am always on the hunt for an eye makeup remover - a cheaper one that is. I can't afford Clarins, bareMinerals, or MAC, so I'll settle for drugstore for now.

Nivea have a consise collection of mascara removers, some better than others (I will opt for the 'one sweep' option when there is one), and I much prefer some with some sort of oil base in them, to really melt away the product, I try to avoid morning panda eyes as much as possible.

It costs about £3.59 if I remember rightly, and you get half of an oil solution, and half aqueous.

The best way for me to use this is to shake, pour onto a cotton pad, and then hold onto the eye for a few seconds, wipe away and the makeup is pretty much gone.

There is a little bit of an oily residue left over, but nothing I can't handle at all, if anything barely noticable - besides, you cleanse afterwards.

For a cheap drugstore one, I can't sing it's praises enough. One reason I love it? I am secretly fascinated, no matter how you move this around, the different solutions don't mix - I do know the science side of things, I just think it looks cool.

A short and sweet review, but overall, for the price you pay, if you want something drugstore based, and something that will get all that stuff off those lashes, this is the one to go for - and I have tried quite a few solutions which haven't worked in the same way. This is good, I recommend it.

You can even get this cheaper in places like Savers for £1.69, an even better deal, and it wasn't even going to break the bank in the first place!

RIMMEL SCANDALEYES LYCRA FLEX MASCARA

A few months ago, I strolled into Superdrug with confidence. It was Megan's birthday shopping trip, and there was a 3 for 2 offer on. I had never been more certain of what I was going to be buying. 'Maybelline The Rocket', I told myself. As the queue was so long, and we wanted to make our money go further by purchasing things in price categories, Megan's mum was very kind and went to pay for the first lot with out money.

The woman at the till asked if we wanted the mascara to be swapped with a new offering from Rimmel, and Megan's mum kindly refused. Somehow, the woman managed to sneakily change it, and I ended up with the mascara I didn't want - but have now grown to love (I just wish it was waterproof).

The packaging is very stand-out. Bright green with black detail and writing. It is quite chunky, but I kinda like that sort of thang. The first few days I got this, it was a very 'wet' mascara, and came across a little gloopy, but after a weeks worth of useage it dried out more. I find bristle brushes dry out a lot quicker than any wtih plastic, from what I have experienced before, so I am trying to finish this off before it is at its un-useable stage.

Rimmel designed this mascara to be layered with as many coats as you desire, and they should still be clump-free and flexible, which I agree to entirely. 

I have some before and after shots, so you get the idea of what the mascara does. It is volumising and thickening, yet lengthening and not clumpy in the slightest. With the chunky wand, it is a little more time consuming with the bottom lashes, and as it isn't waterproof, it has faded/worn by the end of the day, so that is a little down side. 

Before Mascara: Droopy, Light and not-so-interesting lashes. 

After Mascara: Bam, instant difference, Thick, Volumnious, curled Lashes. This picture only does half the justice it should. I wish you could all come and look at my lashes to see the real effect!

After this mascara drama, it taught me to be a little less fussy on the makeup I buy. Although I had heard bad things about the previous Scandal Eyes mascaras, I shouldn't have passed-by this one straight away, Rimmel, I just really wish you would make a waterproof version... I would repurchase this if that was the case! Overall though, a great (mis-judged) mascara. 

Lauren x