Benefit 'they're Real' Mascara Review

In an older post from a couple of months ago, I issued a warning about fake benefit products on eBay - the one I was unfortunate to purchase was the, what I thought, the 'they're Real' mascara. I photographed the wand and showed how it reaaally isn't the real thing. See the post here.

After getting a refund card in Debenhams with £14.50 on there that I had to spend in the shop, well, my mind ran away to the makeup section, even though that October I had already bought a gazillion other makeup products. I was actually looking for a waterproof YSL mascara that is, considering my lack of luck, discontinued. Looking for mascaras to hold curl, I gave up because the elderly women at Dior and Chanel boutiques scare the c*** out of me and I feel they didn't really like me saying "nah this isn't good, bye" to them. Finally I turned to benefit with their massive-titted woman with the massive letter across her and bought the mascara without even trying it, that's how tired I was.

  

The packaging isn't all fabulous, but it's handy and  the tube is smaller than the usual long mascaras, thus a slightly shorter wand. It does feel like quality. 

 Above is 3 coats of the mascara on curled lashes. What I've noticed with this mascara is that it doesn't deposit black product on the upper waterline (which is something I want because it adds depth and definition to my tiny eyes), which is a negative for me. I guess that's the "natural" look but I don't like it. I find that I have to wear it with my Stila Major Lash Mascara because it does a fantabulastic job of getting that blackness on my waterline: 

As you can see - no curl. Almost none at all. Does it curl better than some other mascaras? Well, yes. It does have a tiny bit of an uplifting power over, say, Bourjois Elastic Mascara which just does absolutely nothing to my lashes (mind you, it's not a curling but a lengthening mascara, and it does a decent job at the latter). Overall, I do like how it makes my lashes look and feel - it has a random sort of rubbery feel to it. 

Is it really "smudge proof"? No. I asked the lady at the counter whether there will ever be a waterproof version and she said "it doesn't need to be, it's water resistant". Silly lady. It runs like the Niagara falls.

The brush has mixed feelings from me, even though it is this mascara's main selling point. See picture below. It's a plastic brush, something I love and hate. Love because it separates lashes, or at least tries to. Kind of. Are my lashes separated? Not really. First coat is fine, but after the second I have to use a clean mascara wand to try and fan my poor, miserable lashes out a bit. Does the famous ball-shaped spiky end work? Not for me. If you examine the picture below you will see that a tonne of product collects in the end of the brush (as it always does) and thus you have to work pretty hard to get it out, and even so, you will damage those spikes in the end. It is supposed to be used for the hard to reach lashes. Sure, I would use it, but the dollop of product that is in the ball puts me off the idea.

Why hate? Because it kills my poor eye skin. It hurts like a b****. I do not use this everyday and would not recommend it to others. The spikes scratch my waterline, they scratch my lash line, they scratch everything. For the result that I get, the pain isn't worth it. And actually, it is never worth it, ladies. Seriously. 

 

Have a silly picture of my face with the applied mascara and crazy hair. As you can see, it really doesn't do much for me and the dream of a larger eye helped by curlier lashes is lost on this mascara. Nonetheless I will continue using it as a day time mascara and throw it into my makeup bag, but it will be added to my "Meh" list of mascaras that have failed to become my holy grails. 

:) x 

PS I forgot to mention that I do not use this mascara on my bottom lashes because it clumps! Not as bad as some other mascaras (Revlon Grow Luscious Waterproof Mascara, I'm looking at you) but still pretty bad, and I like my bottom lashes to just be coated thinly but be very black for definition, and for that, I use Stila Major Lash (♥).   

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain Review

This is going to be a happy post (shock horror) because I absolutely LOVE this product. It's sitting cosily in my "everyday favourites box" now being all happy.
I bought this for £5.99 at Boots (usual price £7.99 but it's nice to have 2 quid off), and was tempted to buy more colours but... money is an issue, even with such inexpensive gems!

I bought the colour 020 Lovesick because I luuuurve fuchsia lip colours - they're so lush and bold, without being too over-the-top. I am a little tired of understated lip colours (nude? why would you choose to look like you haven't got anything on!?) as well as heavy forumals (cough cough MAC) so I went for this.

First, the staying power of this is magical. It's a stain after all, and I am being honest here when I thought it wouldn't live up to the hype - it really did. My biggest nemesis is the two silly lines around your lips where the colour stayed and the inner side is flesh coloured - looks very 80's drag

There are no such lines with this stain - the colour stays on while eating, drinking and a lot of kissing (boyfriend was pleased). The colour is very vibrant and not drying at all because of the balm-y quality. I like to blot my lips with a tissue if I want the sheen of the balm to go and make most of the stain look.

Natural light - 1 coat

Flash - 1 coat (my lower lip resembles Sylvester Stallone's here...)

Hand swatch

The jumpo pencil-like tube is a godsend - it is so easy to apply it in a hurry and with great precision. If you want a dollop of colour, use the flat side of the "crayon" and the tip for outlining.

Natural light

Flash

All in all, I thoroughly recommend this product, even a cynic like me couldn't find a single flaw in it!

:)
x

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer Review

Heard lots of good thing about this concealer so I don't really know why I postponed buying it for so long... Collection 2000 (they renamed it 'Collection' but I will stick the 2000 on the end forever!) had a "everything under £4" promotion, but I didn't have much money with me so I didn't go all out (thank god).  My shade is #1 Fair.

Where to start..... I absolutely love this. This is now on top of my everyday makeup routine, it's a staple item  and I regret not buying it earlier. Now for more detail:

Consistency: Definitely on the thicker side. It is best to apply this one spot at a time: apply, blend, apply, blend. I tried dotting my whole face and then blending, but it became difficult, as it is actually quite thick and dries swiftly.

Coverage: Medium-Full. I say this based on my medium-full coverage MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer, and this does almost the same if not better job. Extremely useful to hide redness (which I have a lot of), less so on spots and blemishes, though still a very good job.

Packaging:  I think it's perfect. I am always a fan of a sleek tube with an applicator over a 'tub', even though fingers get dirty anyway (I don't really feel like investing in a concealer brush... I value my products too much). The sponge applicator wand is very helpful, and excess can always be returned to the tube.

Aesthetics: by this I mean smell, but I don't think that should have its own section... but I digress. I absolutely love that this is 100% odourless. No sickly chemical smell, or even worse - heavily perfumed paste. Eww.

Price: Need I explain? 130% value for money!

my bare skin...ewww.

Verdict: a definite drugstore gem, and something you should definitely invest in. Only downside is that people with certain skintones won't find their matches (hooray for always being the palest shade of any brand!) as there are only 4 colours and they're all for white skin.
  
:)
x

Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara Review

Bonjour,
I got this mascara in Debenhams (link) on sale (of course!) alongside a sample size Bi-Facil Makeup Remover and a Le Crayon Khol Eyeliner (which is, by the way, absolutely USELESS). It was some ridiculous reduction in price so I persuaded mum to buy it - score!

Anyways on to the review...

Sleek packaging in a typical silver Lancome box  and a chunky tube of a curved design

The formula is quite creamy - I was suspicious when I opened it as it was a little too creamy, which is more often than not an indicator of lack of curling action. The Boots.com website states:

"Instant lash coating with immediate load thanks to a new formula which gives intense volume to the look of lashes"

Uhhhh... can't say I agree. Not much volume was produced and it was kind of clumpy. I've noticed with Lancome mascaras (I've owned 3), they tend to clump a lot and also there is quite a bit of fall out.  
 

"S-shaped" brush they're so proud of...

 More from the website...

 "New curvaceous oversized brush gives full lash contact for dramatically fuller and thicker looking lashes"

The only thing that I found the brush did was get on my eyelids and ruin my 30-minute cut-crease shadow design. It's humongous, and certainly isn't formulated to reach those tiny useless lashes in the corners of the eye. The tip is too thick to try and touch up the little lashes and ends up depositing a bucket of black on one tiny eyelash i.e. CLUMPS and SMEARS!

Comparison of Drama with Precious Cells - notice the difference in brush size

 I find that Precious Cells is easier to use for the small eyelashes (wait, all of mine are small... :/) - but still clumps! Oh Lancome. This is what Hypnose Drama looks on my silly eyelashes:

Notice some fall out around the bottom lashes, and almost bear lower lashes after ~8 hours wear

No curl - almost no length, and a significant lack of volume. It's very black, I'll give it that, but apart from that, nothing special.
Conclusion - if you see it reduced, I would suggest getting it, another luxury mascara won't harm you, but I wouldn't recommend buying this at full price  - a waste of money, in my case anyway. Bear in mind I have very straight eyelashes and only found one or two formulas of mascara that actually hold a curl in my lashes.

:)
x