A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

A good citrusy scent is unbeatable for those mornings when you just can’t seem to muster the energy to lift your sleepy head from the pillow.  It’s an energising, invigorating and fresh smell and if combined with a hint of spice then it’s in my shopping basket quicker than a New York minute.

However, I’ve come to the conclusion that citrus is a tricky scent to capture… I’ve sniffed many ‘lemon’ products that quite frankly would be better kept under my kitchen sink than by the side of my bath.

The Body Shop have just launched their Sweet Lemon range, I was given two products from the range at their recent presentation and as a veritable grumpy connoisseur of all things lemon-y… they’re up against a tough nose.

Sweet Lemon Shower Gel – £6

A soap-free, non-drying cleansing gel with luscious lemon seed oil. Lathers to leave your skin feeling cleansed, refreshed, soft and subtly scented.

The Sweet Lemon Shower Gel is nice, it definitely isn’t too synthetic smelling – it’s sharp rather than sweet and lathers up nicely.  I’d like it to leave a little more scent on my skin, but for an “in shower experience” it does the job well.  I think it comes at quite a price though… between me and Mr. L we’d get through 2 bottles of this a month easily, and I wish I could justify £12 a month on Shower Gel, but I can’t.  If your skin isn’t sensitive to soap, I’d suggest trying out a bar of the Sweet Lemon Soap at a much more affordable £2 a pop.

Sweet Lemon Whip Body Lotion – £8

Light and fluffy, this quick-absorbing, non-greasy whipped cream lotion, with rich and velvety natural ingredients, smoothes easily over the skin, leaving it feeling well moisturised, soft and supple. Provides moisturisation that lasts up to 12 hours. Leaves skin scented with an uplifting and fresh lemon fragrance.

The scent of the Sweet Lemon Whip Body Lotion (which again is sharp rather than sweet) lingers beautifully without being overpowering.  The formula feels light and fluffy, sinking nicely into my skin without leaving any greasiness.  I’m not sure how much stock I’d put into their 12hr moisturisation claims for this product as I personally need something heavier to keep my skin supple for that length of time.  I’d give the scent of the range a 7/10 but it really appeals to Mr. L’s nose, and he never gives a crap about stuff like this… so it’s definitely a product I’ll be shopping for when my current one runs out.  As it spreads so smoothly, I don’t think I’d need to repurchase too often either… well, not unless I catch Mr. L at my bottle again *side eye*.

Have you tried the new Sweet Lemon range from the Body Shop?  What are your favourite smells to get you going in the mornings?  Bacon doesn’t count.

…your Boots till spits I mean!

If you’re not a UK lady, let me quickly explain…

Boots have a rather fabulous promotional period every couple of months that goes something like this…

If you spend over £5 you get a voucher.  The voucher entitles the holder to £5 off Boots No7 or Ruby & Millie (a British cosmetic brand).

That’s it… no catches, nothing.  How lucky are we?

The current promotion runs out on the 28th March, which means that I have 4 days left to spend the 3 vouchers I’ve rescued from the bottom of my handbag.  Which brings me to my original question…

How do you spend yours?

As there’s nothing specific I want from either of the permitted ranges, I’m thinking of plumping for some of the following items – note, prices shown are after voucher redemption:

Boots No7 Eyeshadow Blend and Contour.

I have a few of these (ok, about 6) that I grab from my brush pot when I’m too lazy to go and wash my ‘good’ blending brushes but obviously don’t want to muddy my eye look.  They’re not the softest nor the most well constructed, but for £1.50, they’re pretty darn decent backups!

Boots No7 Quick Thinking 4 in 1 Wipes.

Love these wipes, they really do a stand up job at removing makeup.  I mostly use them to clean off swatched hands or if I’m playing with my makeup.  I prefer a proper face wash before bed!  These are great for travel too, but I wouldn’t pay the full price.

Boots No7 Ultimate File and Buffer.

You can’t get a better bargain than free!  I have one of these in the glove box incase of an emergency broken nail.  Don’t laugh at me, you’re not even a proper GIRL unless you have an emergency nail file set.  Go redeem yourself down at Boots immediately!

Boots No7 Eye Colour Brush.

I haven’t tried this one, but I used to pick up ones from the No7 range which looked simillar (except they had black bristles) and I swear by them for depositing a healthy amount of colour on my lids.  Unfortunately, they’ve been discontinued and I’m wondering if these are the replacement?  Anyone know the old ones I mean?  They used to come in little black cardboard boxes (usually found on the bottom shelf of the No7 stand), I think they were £5.75 each (before voucher redemption) so they worked out at 75p each after, total bargain!  Anyone tried these white bristled ones?

Ruby & Millie I-Liner Brush.

I haven’t been hugely impressed with much from the Ruby & Millie range and some of the brushes are (imho) pretty awful.  This one however, I like.  It’s great for pushing gel and cream liners right into the lashline slightly under the lashes.  Don’t try and line above the top lashes with it though… well, not unless you’re incredibly nifty with an eyeliner brush.

Boots No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser.

£3.75 for a Hot Cloth Cleanser and muslin cloth is a total bargain I reckon!  I’m currently trialling the original Liz Earle version (review coming soon) and I’ll be picking one of these up in the next few days for a bargainous comparison.  It’s worth noting too that this No7 version has clocked up no less than twenty 5 star reviews on the Boots website.  Having said that, if it’s anything like the Boots Time Delay Cleansing Balm (Eve Lom ‘replica’) then it’ll leave me in tears.  Literally.

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So, that’s my ‘picks’ for your £5 “till spit”.  What do you rush to stock up on everytime the offer rolls around?  Don’t keep your bargains to yourselves, did your Mama never tell you it’s good to share?

A quick (quick? who am I kidding, took me ages!)  FOTD showing off a couple of the matte shades from the new Sleek MakeUP Bohemian Palette:

Marron on the lid and lower lashline
Wafer in the crease
Moto-X on the upper lashline and outer V

gah… hooded lids…

oh well, you can at least see Marron UNDER my eyes right?

Dude, I honestly CAN blend!  The camera has totally washed out wafer which I blended into the socket line to ease the transition between browbone and lid.

I was surprised by how much I’m enjoying playing with some mattes, they’re looking more sophisticated and I feel like they’re blending less ‘muddily’ than shimmer shades.  Am I imagining things oh matte addicts?  I’ve really not worn mattes much before, but I just seem to be creating more polished looks with these than normal (not that you could tell from my photos).

And here’s a brighter EOTD with the Bohemian Palette:

Emperor on the lid
Sanguine in the crease
Moto-X into the socket to darken

Ok, that’s enough badly executed FOTDs from me for at least a year, apologies for any nightmares you may suffer as a result of viewing this post.  Hopefully though, it will help you decide whether or not you’ll be spending your lunchbreak today in Superdrug or Boots 😉

…Or just ‘divine’ according to the packaging.  And yano what?  I think they might be right…

Sleek MakeUP have truly outdone themselves on the design front.  Reminiscent of MAC’s soon to be released (in the UK) Give me Liberty of London collection with it’s whimsical scrolls and monochromatic base design.  Someone in the Sleek MakeUP Art dept. has their fingers very much on the pulse.

When the palette arrived unnanounced from Sleek HQ, I was momentarily thrown by all this new styling!  Ordinarily enclosed in a clear plastic carton, the Sleek MakeUP Bohemian palette finds itself housed in cardboard.  I don’t know if this is a permanent shift in packaging, but it’s one I prefer.  It’s easier to open at the counter to make sure you haven’t managed to pick up the one palette that’s been smashed to smithereens by an over-zealous 9 year old.

The actual palette itself has undergone a bit of a transformation too, no longer a sleek black box I’m undecided on the new look.  It looks a bit cheap, the stark white seems to emphasise it’s overall plastic-ness.  I think if Sleek MakeUP had continued the graphics (or even just the black swirls) from the outer sleeve onto the palette itself, it would have been a knockout.

In fairness though, do we care?  Probably not…

With 12 generously sized eye shadows contained under the lid, the Sleek MakeUP palettes retain their excellent value for money credentials.  Let’s take a closer look at those eye shadows.

Sleek MakeUP Bohemian Palette is billed as being inspired by “antique trinkets, vintage finds” and um… “Sienna Miller”.  Despite this obvious drawback *removes tongue from cheek*, they’ve managed to pull off a fabulous array of strong shades that are sure to pack a punch.  Will I use all of them?  Probably not… but I don’t think I’ve ever used every shade in a Sleek MakeUP i-Divine palette and that hasn’t stopped me buying them thus far.

The Bohemian palette is comprised of 3 shimmers and 9 mattes.  Woah there!  As a shimmer girl, I have to admit to being a little disappointed to see so many mattes…. I mean, go buy the Chaos palette if you want mattes!  Still, I’m nothing if not adventurous (honest!) and do realise that I’m not the only makeup-loving chick in the world… let’s have a closer look…

Oh, but before we do… For the love of God, will someone at Sleek MakeUP please consider naming the i-Divine shadows?  No?  Fine… I hereby christen these shades with some twatty names on your behalf…

Top Row from Left to Right… (S) = Shimmer, (M) = Matte

1. Gilt – Golden Olive (S)
2. Russet – Rust (S)
3. Marron – Maroony Chestnut (M)
4. Calendula (shutup, they’re MY names) – Banana Custard (M)
5. Anaemia (come on MAC, employ me already) – Off-White (M)
6. Neutron – Black (M)

7. Wafer (It SO is, right?) – Pale Tan (M)
8. Sanguine – Raspberry meets Cranberry (S)
9. Clover – Bright Grassy Green (M)
10. Overdyed – Indigo Denim (M)
11. Emperor – Purple (M)
12. Moto-X (yeah, I’m bored of shade naming now) – Dirt Brown (M)

And the swatches…

Bar Clover and Calendula… I think I’m happy to wear the rest of the shades, which is more than I thought when I first looked at the palette.  My only other ‘not sure’ was Wafer which actually works fabulously in the crease to blend out a more vibrant shade.

The pigmentation of the mattes is (as expected) not as strong as the shimmers, but they’re easily buildable without looking chalky and the above swatches show no more than 3 swipes (2 in most cases).

I’ve given Sleek a hard time recently on Lipglossiping.com…. from Eye Dusts that spill to liquid liners that flake, I’ve been disappointed with the quality of some of the brand’s recent offerings.  So it’s just as well they’ve come along and hit this one out of the ballpark.

Sleek MakeUP i-Divine Bohemian Palette is Limited Edition and will be available from Wednesday 17th March at some Superdrug stores (not my local – boo!) and online at Sleek MakeUP priced at £4.99.

International ladies, please note that Sleek MakeUP now accept online orders and offer international postage.

I was recently sent two products from Sleek Makeup‘s range, focusing on a couple of shades that are suited to this year’s Spring trend.

On the left we have the Dip It in Pastel Green and on the right, an Eye Dust in Livid Lilac.

I’m a beauty addict with eclectic tastes and try not to discriminate based on price or accessibility of products.  So, I approach this review with a fully open mind.  Even when I held the Dip It pot in my fingers, twirling it…. marvelling at how incredibly cheap Sleek had managed to make it look.

The eye dust packaging doesn’t fare much better.  I mean, they’re both obviously plastic, but they’re SO lightweight I’m surprised that they’re not defying the rules of gravity.

Having said that, I ultimately only really care about how it looks if I’m gonna be seen in public with it (shallow soul that I am), how about the actual contents?

How ABOUT those contents…

Well, there they are.  In all their ‘spilled across my new desk cos the sifter fell out when I tapped the bottom of the pot’ glory.  You can only imagine how much I was loving that purple Eye Dust at this point.

When I grumbled about my little dust-spilling incident on Twitter, it turned out that I wasn’t the only one who had nearly ended up with a lapful of Livid Lilac.  Something for Sleek Makeup to investigate perhaps?

Anyway, the colour is pretty… it’s more vivid in the pot than it is swatched, a good thing seeing as it’s called ‘Livid Lilac’ afterall and looks thoroughly ‘Royal Purple’ in the container.

The top swatch shows the Dip It liner in Pastel Green.  It’s an opaque mint, and really does look like a fabulous shade for Spring.  Livid Lilac is far softer once swatched (dry) and slightly metallic.  I was really impressed with the choices for this season’s shades.

Application of the Dip It was a bit tricky.  The wand and narrow tip allowed for a precise sweep across the eye lid, but as I was drawing the line, I found that the applicator dragged at the pigmentation leaving the line of colour less pigmented in the centre than at the edges.  To be fair, nothing that a second coat didn’t remedy.  The liner dried almost instantly without transferring to the hooded part of my eyelids.

I had no issues applying the Eye Dust, it blended smoothly and the colour depth was nicely buildable.

Here’s a FOTD, don’t laugh… the shades are a bit bright for me, but I enjoyed playing!

Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ended, 20 minutes later, I looked in the mirror and saw that the eyeliner had begun to flake…

Bits of Dip It kept getting caught in my eyelashes, so I ended up using an eyeshadow brush to work back and forward until I’d dislodged all the flakes.  I wasn’t left with much.

Fast forward to bed-time and my cleansing routine.  I cleansed with my ever faithful cleansing oil and a blob of Cetaphil to finish, towelled my face dry and then shrieked at the mirror when I saw a matching pair of pink-dyed eyelids looking back at me.  I would have photographed them for the comedy value, but it was kinda late and I’m kinda lazy so you’ll just have to use your imagination instead.

On the plus side, it showed that my sense of symmetry has improved.  Those dyed patches were perfect.

Overall, I was disappointed at the quality of the 2 products I was sent by Sleek Makeup which is a shame, because in the past I’ve been mostly impressed (how ’bout them 12 pan palettes eh?).

Sleek Makeup products are available from selected Superdrug stores, the Eye Dusts and Dip Its both retail for £2.99 each.

ON the 15th January, Garnier released the long-awaited update to their original Eye Roll-on which has accumulated fans across the globe.

Garnier 2in1 Tinted Eye Roll-On.

I don’t count myself a fan of the original non-tinted version. Despite finding it refreshing and a pleasing object to use, I just didn’t notice enough difference to justify a £10 price tag.  I was sent the new tinted version last week and have been excited at the prospect of a comparison!

I don’t have a particular problem with eye-bags, but dark circles are pesky nuisances that appear frequently thanks to late nights and early starts and concealer in that delicate area is something tricky to get right – especially on-the-go.  I’ve used many products and am currently favouring Bobbi Brown’s Creamy Concealer Kit (kindly gifted to me by LondonMakeupGirl) – it’s a fantastic product, but it’s not something I could use to touch-up with during the day.  I’m also not a fan of YSL’s Touche Eclat, I hate how it photographs and think it’s a particularly overrated product.

Like it’s counterpart, Garnier’s 2in1 Tinted Eye Roll On, comes in a purse-friendly tube, ergonomically shaped to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.  It promises two things:

1. Immediate Coverage

2. Reduce the look of fatigue

Well, does it deliver?

Yes and Yes-ish…

It has the same roll-on application system as the original.  That roller ball is a joy to use, it’s smooth… never drags and is cooling to the touch.  Innovation at it’s absolute best.

It delivers a steady stream of product and in my (limited) experience, hasn’t blocked or clogged on me.  I put the original version in the fridge in the Summer for an extra-cooling experience, but I’m not sure how that would translate now that it contains coloured pigments.

Available in 2 shades: Fair and Medium, I received it in Fair.

As you can see, it’s a little darker than my (very pale) skin tone and a bit warmer aswell.  It claims to be able to “perfectly adapt to your skin tone”… I was unconvinced upon swatching.

Once rolled onto the eye area, it looks a better fit.  It blends easily and smoothly.  I use my ring finger to blend gently, I want to blend it with my skin… not rub it away!

Once blended, I’m pretty happy with the effect.  I don’t think it will replace my Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit (which is more heavy duty) – but I’ll definitely be carrying this in my makeup bag for touch-ups throughout the day.  It needs precise blending on me thanks to being a little too warm for my skintone, so I wouldn’t dare use it without a mirror… but I’m always gazing at my reflection in various shiny objects, so I’m sure I’ll be ok 😉

Oh, also! Very important and hugely positive.  No creasing!  I even layered it for more coverage and didn’t notice it seeping into the fine lines at all.  It has the same cooling effect as the original, but I still don’t notice any significant hydration of the area or anything that would suggest I’ve had 14hrs sleep… maybe I just need 14hrs sleep?

This is currently a Boots exclusive in the UK. Get it online here, priced at £9.99

Ruby & Millie make some decent brushes at reasonable prices, and this one is my favourite.  It’s great for gel eyeliners and brow powders… firm but supple.

The Ruby & Millie I-Define brush is priced at £6.00 in Boots, but is currently available for a recession-busting £1.00 with a No7/Ruby & Millie till spit*.

I’ve bought a couple since the offer’s been on and plan on getting some more of the Boots No7 Eyeshadow brushes which I enjoy using alongside my MAC 239.

The Boots No7 Eyeshadow brush is priced at £5.75 rendering it a 75p super-bargain with a till spit.  Only larger stores appear to carry these brushes though.  You can usually find them on the bottom shelf of the No7 stand (rather than amongst the general makeup brushes) housed in cardboard boxes.

*till spit = a voucher automatically printed by the till when you spend over £5 in a transaction.  I’m a geek and purposefully split my transactions into roughly £5 amounts to maximize my till spits *blush*

Till spits are valid until the 31st January, so get shopping!

Have you tried either of these brushes?  Do you recommend any other ’till spit’ bargains?

01/02/2010 (UK Date Format) – This post is overdue an update.

I’ve been revisiting this mascara throughout January.  And the formula feels thicker to me now.  It’s less clumpy (although I still wouldn’t advise more than 2 coats) and I’m finding that it nicely defines my lashes.  I need to update with a photo, and I shall do that very shortly.  But I wanted to put this update in now as I saw that I was receiving a few Google search referrals to this page.

As it stands, I would repurchase this mascara… I’m not sure *why* I found it so hard to work with back in November, but it seems like a completely different formula to me now that it’s aged a little… I’m enjoying it so much that I took it on holiday with me as my only mascara, that sounds like a silly ‘compliment’.  But when you have as many mascaras in rotation as I do, it’s a big commitment!

When I was in Superdrug the other day, I was looking for some of Bourjois’ new makeup removers and skincare products when I spied this unremarkable looking tube on the shelves.

Bourjois 1001 Cils…

I adore mascara, I have no less than 7 unopened tubes sitting in my makeup drawers at home, waiting to be put into action, so of course… I had to buy another one.

With mascaras, innovation seems to be the buzz word “du jour” and it’s not about the formulas…  It’s all about the brushes at the moment.  I’ll happily admit that I’m a total sucker for this.  I love me a good explanation as to why a mascara brush is gonna make me look like bambi on steroids.

So what’s the USP of this one?

Bourjois says:

Say good bye to mascaras that only thicken or lengthen the lashes! Bourjois goes further and multiplies your lashes*

* visual effect

Excellent! How’s it gonna do that then?

The revolutionary patented** double helix brush has astonishing powers: with its twelve rows of bristles, it works on every single lash, even the very smallest. In just one application, every lash is reached and fully coated from root to tip without clumping.

** patent pending

Right-O… No clumping, Multiplied Lashes and a Double Helix Brush…

Double helixes rock. It’s true…

Think DNA, responsible for encoding all the genetic information in our sad little lives.

And how about the Double Helix Nebula, found in the middle of our very own Milky Way galaxy?

Not quite so impressive, but interesting nonetheless is Bourjois’ 1001 Cils Mascara Brush:

It’s a plastic spiked brush as opposed to fibre bristled, which usually works nicely for my lashes.  Do you have a preference?

The formula is quite wet… one of those “sneeze and you’ll *really* regret it” types.

The head of the wand is really flexible compared to the shaft.  When I was putting the wand back in the tube, I hadn’t quite aligned it properly and instead of it simply jamming and not going in the tube as what usually happens… the head flexed and “pinged”, flicking mascara on me. Nice.

It clumped on the first coat and spread itself over my eyelid thanks to the thin, wet formula.

I didn’t find it particularly lengthening, volumising or ‘multiplying’.  The only positives I have are that it contains a nice strong black pigment and thanks to the thin brush you can reach the inner lashes with ease.

Here’s some before > afters:

I wouldn’t repurchase.

Bourjois 1001 Cils/Lashes is currently priced at £6.99 in Boots (I can’t remember how much I paid in Superdrug), RRP: £8.99

Introducing Sleek’s new Sunset Palette, I would link you to the website.. but I can’t find the palette on there… infact, the website seems to be thoroughly out of date.  And just how long does it take to build an online shop?

Anyway…

I had absolutely no intention of buying this.  I’m a cool toned kinda girl, especially at the moment… I’m all about the greys, mauves and silvers.

However, whilst buying the Graphite palette… I couldn’t resist a sneak peek inside this one too.  Oh my!

I will probably never wear the blue or the bright orange (I know, I know – they’re the bestest ones)… but they’re just not me!  The others are deliciously wearable metallic shades that will be put into use immediately!

Absolute stand out shades for me are: Top 2nd from left (cranberry colour), bottom far left, bottom 2nd from left and bottom 3rd from right.  If you’re a neutrals girl the palette is easily worth the cost for those 4 shades alone.  Although the cranberry shade looks bright, (and it is..) it blends out smoothly making a gorgeous subtle crease colour.

I’m very happy with this palette, and delighted that it’s made it into the permanent collection – good job Sleek!

This is Sleek’s latest addition to their highly popular palette family.

It’s basically an all-in-one smokey eye kit.  Two highlight shades and variations of blacks/greys with a purple (or 2) thrown in.

Texture wise, they’re the same creamy, slightly crumbly but highly pigmented shadows that we’ve come to know and love from Sleek.

I wish, wish, wish that the shades between the highlights and the first grey were more graduated.  There seems to be an awfully big jump from those first two shades into what (for me) is crease colour territory.

As I don’t generally wear dark shades on my lids, this palette ultimately consists of 10 crease colours.

If you count, left-right… top-bottom… 4 & 5 are too simillar as are 7 & 8 and even 11 & 12 which is such a shame, because this is a wonderful palette idea from a company that produce great shadows for a great price but honestly, I think it’s a “could have done better”.

I’ll get lots use out of it, and for less than £5 it’s definitely not something I’d ever regret buying, I’m just sad thinking about how good it could have been.

It’s Limited Edition, and from experience these palettes sell out quicker than a Bon Jovi concert, so get down Superdrug quick!

As a total false lash virgin, I was excited but cautious when approached to test out some lashes from the Revlon Fantasy Lengths range.  What’s in a name huh?  When the parcel arrived, husband thought I’d been making one of *those* orders… and was relieved to discover nothing but false lashes as far as the eye could see.

I considered turning down the offer, wondering if perhaps I wasn’t really false lash material… I mean, I could rock the ooh la la lashes whilst walking down to the post office but it’s not like I go anywhere that calls for such lash fluttery.

But then I realised, as a total novice… I was infact perfect to test out how these babies perform (and apply).

I got sent 2 types… the self-adhesive variety and scary glue-on ones.

Let me start with the scary glue ons… well, my first attempt was an unmitigated train wreck.  I may aswell have just saved myself half an hour of tedious positioning and glued one to my forehead and the other to my chin.  Shu model I ain’t.

I’d also managed to coat the lashes in so much of the glue that was included, my only option was to bin them.  Girls, don’t be all cavalier and think that you can apply the glue directly from the tube.  You can’t.  Get over it and find a q-tip to snap in half.

2nd attempt was a little better.. still wonky, but at least I didn’t glue my own lashes to my lid this time.

To be honest, I was pissed, grumpy and slightly fearful that 3rd time lucky would mean 3rd time glue your eyes shut… so I gave up with those ones.

The lashes themselves are lovely, I thankfully didn’t need to trim them and the thing I noticed most was just how lightweight they were.  I thought I’d really notice them on, but they felt like a natural extension to my own eyelashes.

See? *flutter flutter*

I moved on to the self-adhesives…

E.A.S.Y

How can there be so much difference?  Was it practice?… or are self-adhesives that much kinder to adjusting little mistakes?  Either way, this application looked halfway decent and I even left the house in them.

I asked my husband if he liked my eyelashes.  He looked totally confused.

After a couple of misunderstandings later he elaborated on his puzzlement by saying that he didn’t realise I had falsies on.  Yes, ladies and gentl ladies… my natural eyelashes are that amazing.

Oh ok, ok, I’ll grudgingly admit that it might be because Revlon Fantasy Lengths are pretty darn natural looking…  or of course, it could be option 3… my husband is a bloke who just doesn’t notice anything.

Anyway you wanna see?

Please do bear in mind, that this is genuinely my third ever attempt at applying false eyelashes.  Regardless, just try to stifle your guffaws ’till you’ve moved on to someone else’s blog and I can’t hear you anymore.

Now, my left eye (your right) – I think I got pretty darn perfect?  Other one, not so much… I placed them a little too high.

The band was very easy to cover over with a slick of liquid liner and the lashes themselves stuck steadily for around 6 hours before I noticed a teeny amount of lift on an outer corner (but that could easily be my fault).

I would say that these self-adhesives are marketed more towards novices like me.  I’m not scared of them anymore and would deinitely purchase them for special occasions.

The glue-on ones?  Not unless I had someone else to apply them for me.  Or hands that don’t pretend to be bananas.

Do you wear false lashes?  Any application tips for me?

Fellow dark-haired lovelies, RUN to your nearest stockist for Batiste’s latest brainwave (it’s a good’un!)

Batiste Coloured Dry Shampoo!

This promises to solve the only problem I’ve ever had with dry shampoo!

Props where it’s due, Batiste have done so well to revamp their image in recent years and have become a cult favourite the world over.

I’m all for quick starts in the morning and since discovering Batiste I can’t remember the last time I had to scrape my hair back in a ponytail.

Just one thing… what about the redheads?

Are you a dry shampoo fanatic?