Sk-EYE High Lashes Review

[packaging]

[curved brush]

[mascara]

Right, first of all, apologies for the order of these pictures, trying to move them was a disaster!! If anyone is wondering, the nail polish I am wearing is Barry M - Vivid Purple (£2.99 in Boots)

So, I picked up this mascara in bodycare in Leeds for the scandalous price of £1.49. 

Couldn't believe my eyes!!

This product claims to 'create sky-high lashes with this fibre-enriched lengthening mascara'

I was very excited to try this out, especially for the price

I will be honest, this product did not do what I expected it to BUT I loved the effect!

It gives lases that I would describe as naturally beautiful and you don't get too much product on the brush

which means you can add multiple coats without it looking clumpy.

Great for a last minute stocking filler!!

Merry Christmas :)

Hope you all get lots of lovely presents from Santa

V xxx

Homemade horror?

So, my assignment deadline is today and I have 450 words and referencing still to do. So what do I do? Decide to make a homemade face mask of course!!
My friends mum makes the most amazing green tea face mask that does wonders for my skin. So in my wisdom, I decided to try and make one myself by tearing open 2 green tea bags, squirting in some of my BOB BB cream and adding a little water. This is what happened . . . 

I look like a troll! Ok, the chunks of tea inside a teabag are waaayyyy bigger than i expected. Why are they that big??? That made it kind of difficult to apply. [May I add it was nothing like the mask my friends mum makes!!] It did make my pores cleaner and smaller though, so maybe there was some method in my madness. I might try this again but ground the contents of the tea bag down into a finer more powdery consistency which would be easier to apply and remove. I also did some googling and found out that you can buy green tea powder, maybe if I get this essay done I can go into town and look for some of that as it will be much easier than attempting to crush a teabag!
Now time to go back to boring essay writing :( lets hope I get it done by my 4pm deadline!
V xx

BB Creams - Do they work?

So, when I read about the Garnier BB cream I thought OH MY GOSH. This has to be the ultimate product, right? Blurs imperfections and makes skin look natural and flawless??? I thought I had just died and gone to skin perfection heaven. Anyway, as I was on a make up buying ban, I couldn't buy it :( then one day, in a moment of total weakness, I bought the 17 Blemish Balm in light. I figured as it was on offer, and was cheaper than the Garnier cream I would give it a go. Then I got home and started looking at BB cream on ebay and also bought BOB BB cream from Hong Kong. (£2.50 with postage, hardly even counts as spending!!) So here are my honest thoughts!

BOB BB Cream shade 3 - 17 BB cream light

What it looks like

Blended out a little

Cost - BOB cream was only £2.50 including postage which I bought here. The 17 BB cream was on offer for £5.99 when I bought it but is usually £6.99 and is available at most Boots stores. 

Colour - the BOB cream is white which was a bit of a shock to me. I chose shade 3 because I thought it would be suitable for my skin tone. I will say that when it is blended out properly it makes your skin look lighter but not white! The 17 cream is the perfect colour for my skin as I am quite fair. If you are dark skinned I am not sure what BB creams are available as most seem to suit light to medium skin tones.

Product quality - BOB cream is a very thick cream but blends out well. I did find that it sat in my pores though. The 17 cream is between foundation and tinted moisturiser in thickness. I had to use a lot more of this than I would use with a foundation with little difference in effects.

Other comments - I would say the BOB cream is more a skin treat to be worn under your usual foundation as a base. The 17 cream can be worn alone to provide medium coverage. It did cause me to break out really badly when I forgot to remove it at night :(

Scores - BOB 5/10  17 7/10

Would I repurchase these products? NO. Both products were really nice but they were not what I was expecting from a BB cream and the 17 cream is a little pricey. Garnier is still on my Christmas list :) the reviews on that are a lot better, so we will have to wait and see if the results are too!

Sebamed Review

Hello everyone! So as promised (and long overdue I know) here is my review of the Sebamed cleansing bar. I usually use a gel cleanser but was finding that it was drying out my skin and especially as winter is here I needed something new. I just stumbled upon this when browsing on the feel unique website but actually bought it off ebay for £3.99 including postage. I would share you the link of the seller BUT when I looked back the price has gone up to £5.99 which I think is unreasonable for a bar of soap!! I will not be paying that much for this product and I don't think you should either.

Sebamed sell a range of products from shower gel to shampoo all with a pH of 5.5, now I am no good at science but apparently this is nearest to the skins own pH and so is less damaging to the balance of your skin. Does that make sense? Well it doesn't to me but the results speak for themselves. As you may know from previous posts, I can suffer from quite oily skin and this has really helped. It has improved my overall skin tone and reduced the amount of oil my skin produces. I have less dry patches and the redness on my cheeks caused by spots has dramatically reduced. I would also like to think my pores look a little smaller than usual too.
I use this on a morning in the shower and follow with Astral light and creamy moisturiser. Afterwards my skin feels very soft and is a much smoother base for the application of my foundation. I think if you already have fairly clear skin, using this cleansing bar might mean you don't even need to use a primer.
I will 100% be buying this product again. Soap free soap is the way forward! If you have very very oily skin or acne, Sebamed also sell products in a Clear Skin range which may be more suitable for you.
I hope you have found this review helpful, even if it was a bit speedy!
V xxx

Neglected?

Hello everyone!
Just a quick update as I feel like I have neglected my blog. I intended to do a review post on my SebaMed cleansing bar which I am loving at the moment but I have had a bad day today. My little sister (well she is 18, not so little) has been in hospital today with suspected appendicitis.
2 train journeys, 2 buses, 2 taxi rides and a trip in the car later and I have finally got home.
I want to do a good review for you guys and not a crappy rushed one so I would rather not do it today.
Hope you are all well, reading your blogs is cheering me up after a long day
V xxx

ELF order and *mystery box*

Hellooooo! So the other day on the Beauty Baron facebook page I saw everyone talking about ELF mystery boxes, I immediately wanted one!! I love surprises! 

You had to spend £10 and enter a code to qualify.

So I made an order and got free delivery as well as a mystery box, so in total all the things in the photo below cost me £10. WOW!

What I ordered: Nail Polish in Purple Pleaser £1.50, Eye shadow brush £1.50, Complexion Perfection £3.50 and Blush brush £3.50.

What I got in my mystery box: Cream Eyeliner in Coffee worth £3.50, Nail Polish in Twinkle worth £1.50 and Beauty Book Neutral Collection worth £6.

So I only spent £10 and got £11 worth of products for free!! Bargain!

Onto the products I bought. 

I was really really excited to try the complexion perfection and thought if I am going to break my ban on buying beauty products then I'm definitely getting this! It has been raved about on blogs and on Youtube so I had to see what all the hype was about. 

Face before: no make up (sorry!!)

face after - only wearing complexion perfection

So, it did feel a bit funny applying a blue, yellow, green and pink powder to my face. I was scared! I just swept my brush over all 4 colours and applied to my face. As you can see there is not a great improvement to my two big spots I have at the moment, I was expecting them to look a little less red. You can't really see from the photos but there is a slight improvement in the general look of my skin but nothing to write home about. I would go as far as to say I look a little washed out by this. So tomorrow I am going to try this over my usual foundation instead of my Rimmel Clear Complexion powder to see how that goes. Expect a little update on here or on twitter. Overall, a little disappointed.

Love all the other products I ordered :)

On to the MYSTERY box!

I really wanted the cream blush in my box, but I suppose I will have to order that now! I can't quibble about anything I got. The cream eyeliner is a lovely shade and glides on well. Having never tried a cream eyeliner my first opinions are very good. The twinkle polish is not one I would have picked myself but it will be great layered over other colours for the party season as it is a clear polish with lovely glittery bits in.

My favourite product has to be this. . . 

I cannot believe this was FREE. I will be using this! I usually wear neutral colours day to day with a bit of mascara so I was chuffed when I saw this in my box! It would make the perfect present, and at £6 you can't go wrong.

Just a little pic of the 12 colours and eyeliner.

There is even a little page telling you where to apply which colours for the best effect. 

My only quibble with this is the applicator. I am not a fan of foam eyeshadow applicators, sorry ELF! But overall it is a great product and has been a welcome distraction from uni work! In my hurry to rip the mystery box open I did manage to rip a hole into a page of my law textbook, which I need for an exam!! 

OOOOPS!

Never mind, eh?

What have you ordered from ELF lately?

Have you got a mystery box?

V xx

October Favourites :)

Hello!
Where has this year flown? Hate to mention it but it's nearly Christmas!! Eeek! Unfortunately my camera and my laptop are not seeing eye to eye so I haven't been able to put a picture in this blog so I have put as many links to products as possible so you can check them all out (if you want to!).

Skincare
Good Things 5 Minute Facial  - this is an amazingly fruity fresh face mask I have mentioned in my blogs before so I won't bore you with it again. If you haven't tried it, then why not????? You can buy this from Superdrug here. It's currently on special offer so its even more cheap than usual!
Olay Face Wipes - I didn't pay full price for my Olay wipes, got them in a cheapie shop for 99p! I can't say I would pay full price for them but I ran out of my Osiris Avise wipes (you get 3 packs of those for 99p and they are similar in quality and effectiveness) and so I needed an alternative. The Olay cloths are really strong and they feel smooth against your skin. I hate wipes that feel scratchy and horrible on your face. Right at the end of the month I found my old favourite wipes in Boyes and so I will be going back to them next month, but the Olay wipes have been a lovely alternative while they lasted!

Hair Care
Superdrug Naturals Tea Tree and Peppermint Shampoo and Conditioner - My hairdresser suggested i should get some tea tree shampoo because I get a dry irritated scalp but greasy hair, which is a total pain - moisturising shampoos make the grease worse, shampoos for greasy hair make my scalp more irritated. So I was willing to give anything a go. You can get the shampoo and conditioner for just £1.75! There are a range of other types available to suit any hair type and they all smell divine! If you click here you will get through to the tea tree and peppermint shampoo I use but scroll down and you will find all the other lovely options available to try.
Wella Lifetex Volume Protein Mask - This mask claims to strengthen fine hair and provide it with more volume. I was a bit suspicious as it was only £1.99 from Home Bargains, but Wella is a recognised hair care brand so I gave it a go. It is lovely, just comb through hair after shampooing and leave for 3 to 5 mins before rinsing. It smells great and leaves my hair feeling smooth and silky (frizz almost eliminated!) and it does have noticably more volume than usual. I went back and bought a couple more of these as you can never guarantee how long something will be in Home Bargains!!

Make Up
E.L.F Studio Flat Top Powder Brush - £3.50 - I have tried a lot of e.l.f products but I was reluctant to try their brushes because I thought something so cheap couldn't possibly be good, how wrong was I???? This brush is amazing. The bristles are soft but strong (no bits falling out all over your face) and the brush is quite dense so you can use it to apply wet or dry products. Despite this being a powder brush I actually use it to apply my foundation as well as blush and bronzer. Its a great all round brush and at the price you can't go wrong. If you like e.l.f (think most people do!) then follow them on Facebook to keep up to date about when there are any special offers like 20% off or free delivery.
E.L.F Studio Eyebrow Kit - £3.50 - This is a useful little kit which is the perfect size to pop in your handbag. I have it in medium, with me having light skin but dark hair this is the perfect colour. I don't use this daily but I do use it to fill my brows in for a night out.
Witch Tinted Moisturiser - I havent been using this daily so I can't vouch for it's blemish fighting properies but it is a good tinted moisturiser. It gives more coverage than you would usually expect from a tinted moisturiser. The only bad thing about it is the lack of shades available - you have to get light or medium so you could probably get a better shade to suit you from a product like the natural collection tinted moisturisers but light does fine for me :)

Body
Mama K's Coconut Body Souffle - This is something a friend's mum, the lovely Carolyn, made. It didn't have a name so I made one up! This moisturiser feels moussey when you first get it out of the tub then as soon as you start to rub it in it 'melts' into the skin. It really is the best moisturiser! I put it on at night and the coconut smell is still going strong in the morning. I love coconut :) Unfortunately this isn't available to buy yet but if/when it is I will definately be letting you know!

Hope you have enjoyed this and maybe spotted some new products to try!
V xxx

Bargain Buys!

Went shopping yesterday and picked up lots of lovely bargains to show you all :) here they are -

L-R: miss sporty clubbing colours nail polish (can't find a shade anywhere on the bottle, but its purple), w7 mega matte lips (again no shade, grrr), hot tin roof dry shampoo in classic, Lee Stafford blow dry your hair faster spray, Ruby and Millie I-Metal 2 step eyeshadow in turquoise and MUA professional mosaic bronzer in sunkissed glow shade 2.

I love this miss sporty polish, although it comes out darker than it looks in the bottle as you can see

I think the finish looks like the pictures of the Barry M foil polish missbudgetbeauty has on her blog here but its only £1.99!! If anyone has tried this or the Barry M I would love to hear what you think.

I bought the Mega Matte Lips as I totally regretted not buying it last time I went to Boyes. Its only £1.19 and is lovely, gives a gorgeous matte finish without being dry and hard to apply. I haven't uploaded any pictures of it on my lips because they are so dry because I'm a bit poorly. You really cannot wear this on dry lips, just like lipstick, it gets stuck in all the dry bits and looks nasty. So I am overdoing it with the Cherry Carmex to try and get my lips soft again as I cannot wait to wear it!

The Ruby and Millie eyeshadow was something I found on a sale stand for £1. You have to shake the tube to mix the colour with the liquid in the top, which takes a good minute or two if you want it to mix properly. I put this all over my lid with the lipgloss style applicator and it was too bright. I think it works better as an eyeliner with it being so pigmented. They also had this in a navy shade which I would like to purchase if they have any left!

The MUA mosaic is something I have wanted to purchase for a couple of weeks. Its only £2.50 and comes in 3 shades. Very pigmented, which I did not realise before I put loads on last night and ended up looking like a clown!!! I do love the colour though so I will have to remember - less is more!!



L-R: MUA Professional mosaic bronzer shade 2, Ruby and Millie I-Metal in Turquoise and w7 Mega Matte Lips

The two hair care products I bought are still to test. Expect a blog about the Lee Stafford blow dry your hair faster spray. I am very excited about it, even if it was £6.19, I am willing to pay the price if it works.

Now I'm going to get ready to shop again to spend the No7 Voucher I got in Boots!

V xxx

Sexy Nail Polish from Tesco? You bet'cha!

Yes, you read that right. I found the most gorgeous nail polish in tesco last night! It's from their 'all about nails' collection and was only 99p!!!
Shade: Mullberry Pie

Took two coats, but come on, it was 99p!

V xxx

Good things = great things!

Evening all! Please don't think I have been in my pjs all day. After my last post I went shopping with my dad then my mum, managed to sneak a few bits in the basket so that was good!!

So, what seems like forever ago I tested the "Good Things" face mask I had bought in my little haul with my bestie Em. As you may or may not know, I have oily skin across my T-Zone and the occasional dry patch elsewhere and although she will probably disagree, Em has lovely skin, its never dry or greasy!
Here's a little photo of our testing in action . . .

We tested the mask on 3 of our qualities we are looking for in a mask: value for money, quality of product and how it made our skin look and feel.

Good Things  - 5 min facial face mask

Value for money - costs £5.99 which appears steep but we think you could get anywhere between 5 an d 10 applications from a tube which makes it cheap enough.

Quality of product - The good things range is developed especially for young skin and contains loads of lovely natural stuff. It smelled absolutely amazing (I was temped to eat it never mind slap it on my face!) and the consistency was nice and thick so it was easy to apply. We did think it was quite hard to remove though as it needed a bit of scrubbing to get it off.

How it made skin look/feel  - We both agreed that our skin felt tighter and smoother after using the mask. After the tough removal we did have to apply some of our cheapy £1 nivea soft moisturiser (from Wilkinson) because skin felt a bit dry.

We give this . . . *drumroll* . . . . 8/10!!!!!

Has anyone else tried this? What do you think of it? What's your favourite face mask?

V xxx

Oh My GOSH!

Well, I havent posted for what seems like forever!! I'm back at uni and it was the fiance's birthday so I have been rushed off my feet! Got him tickets to see Stephen Merchant at York and it was really good, even if we were sat at the seats furthest away from the stage (I may have left it a little late to book tickets!).

So, I need to post about the good things face mask I bought in my little haul. Tested with my best bud Em. We both have different skin types so its let us be super critical. We have decided to try and test as many face masks as we can find as we both want to find our ultimate favourite.

Best thing I bought since my last post was some GOSH nail polish. I only have a few GOSH products and have mixed opinions about the brand. However, the nail polish is fab! I will be honest, I have no idea how much it cost because I just saw it and grabbed it but other GOSH polishes seem to be about £5 on the Superdrug website. More than I would usually pay but I loved the colour and I was in a rush! I chose the colour 021 peachy rose, as I am on the hunt for the perfect coral polish. It is a bit brighter than I expected but the formula is great. I only applied one coat and the colour was brilliant. Also very resistant to chips. Will definately be purchasing some other colours. 

As you can see I'm still in my pjs and dressing gown! Well, I don't have a job at the moment so I'm taking advantage of days off. Expect to hear about face mask antics when I am dressed and a bit more awake!!
V xxx 

Little Haul :)

Hello everyone :)
Had a pretty hectic weekend and have been dying to get this little Sunday afternoon haul posted but just havent had the time, untl now! I would like to apologise for the shocking quality of this photo (you just can't get the bloggers these days!) I did it on my phone and as you can see, my phone is RUBBISH!
All the products I bought were either from Superdrug, Boots or Boyes :)
First the eyeliner (top left). This is the one of the only things I went out with the intention of buying. It's the L'Oreal Super Liner Luminizer for Hazel eyes and cost £6.49. Its a little bit more than the usual £5 limit I set myself but I had read about it in a magazine at work and it sounded amazing! It's a black eyeliner with a hint of ameythst which is supposed to compliment hazel eyes (they do a one for blue eyes and a one for green eyes too). I have tried a bit on and obviously it isnt as dark as a pure black eyeliner, will have to experiment with what shadows/mascaras look best with it and update you!
Next thing I got was the Good Things face mask. Heard nothing but praise for this brand so wanted to try something and needed a new face mask so I figured I would try this. It was only £3.98, which is good seeing as you get a lot less mess and waste from a tube than a sachet. Not tried this yet but it smells absolutley DIVINE! Can't wait!
Also picked up Superdrug's Vitamin E hot cloth cleanser. Heard a lot of people raving about this and so decided to gove it a go seeing as it was on a special half price offer for £2.99 :) gotta love a good haf price bargain especially when it smells nice and is meant to make you look beautiful!
No7 Soft and Soothed Cleanser - had a voucher and needed a new one, bit boring really.
Batiste XXL Volume (another Superdrug half price bargain at £1.95) - this is something I have wanted to try for a while. I live off dry shampoo (I work 10 hour shifts so I never feel like washing my hair when I get home and then I always sleep in past my alarm and have a mad panic to get ready). I usually use batiste blush and although it gets rid of grease my hair never feels as full bodied as after a blow dry. I have tried this on Monday morning and I must say my first impressions are mixed. Hallelujah it does give my hair volume! BUT at the price of having sticky, sort of matted feeling in my roots. I cant describe it but it felt wierd and I was really concious of it. It was also a lot harder to work into my hair than other dry shampoos I have tried. Will try it again and see if I can rub it in better or something and do a seperate review.
Maybelline Watershine Gloss - £1.99 Boyes baragin!! I do love a good root around the make up section in Boyes, they do some really nice branded make up at affordable prices. Mind you they also sell some complete rubbish which I would never buy or wear. I was also tempted to buy a w7 concealer pallete (thing they called it a camoflage kit) but I have way too many concealers so not even the £1.99 price tag could persuade me. Back to the gloss! The shade is 640 Natural Sunset and is the perfect nude gloss on my lips. Iam in love.
I also picked up 2 nail art pens in dark blue and intense pink. These were 99peach. I love doing nails so these were a baragin. I wanted the sparkly black one they had too but the brush on that looked like it wasnt attached properly. Boyes you have failed me :( Looking forward to using my blue and pink all the same.
I got some nail varnish in Superdrug too. I have been drooling over the gorgeous sort of coffee/brown shades that seem to be in fashion so I picked up this NYC polish in shade 246 Park Ave. I loved the colour. I havent tried NYC polishes (or make up)before so I hope its not too runny or too gloopy or I will be disappointed.
FINALLY - MUA matt black shadow which is shade 20 and MUA lipstick shade 11. I needed a matt black shadow as I ruined my last one by putting eyedrops in it to make it eyeliner (works great by the way) so I just needed one I could actually use as a shadow! I picked up the lipstick as I want a nude everyday lipstick. This is the perfect shade for me as I have quite dark lips so going for the whole concealer lips thing doesnt look good on me at all. I have been wearing the lipstick and I think it is amazing for £1. Most MUA things are £1 which is what i like to hear!!
Hope you have enjoyed reading this even though it was ridiculously long AGAIN!!
V xxx

About Me/Everyday Skincare

Worked about a billion hours at work this week (well about 47!!) so been a bit lazy with getting this up which is not a good start! Sooo a bit about me. My name is Sarah, I'm 21, HELLO!! I have only discovered a decent skincare routine within the last year or so which is pretty bad. I have oily/combination skin (my nose is so oily it scares me) and used to treat my skin with really harsh products in a bid to get rid of spots and oil. BUT, this just made my skin get more oily and more spotty and I got sick of it. So I decided to switch to some more gentle products which I will talk about now!

So these products are the things I use most days. I must add these are all affordable as I am a total cheapskate or as my friends like to call me "the bargain queen". I rarely buy anything that costs over £5!!

First things first  - Garnier Pure Deep Pore Wash - I use this in the shower every morning, just to get rid of any lingering make up from the day before and to gently exfoliate my skin. It costs about £2-3 for 150ml, so is definately a bargain! The grains in it are quite small but really effective. An excellent dupe for this product is Avon's Clearskin Blackhead Clearing cleanser although i think it may be a little more expensive. They are pretty much the same product so whichever one you can get your hands on I would really reccommend that you try one of those.
Second are my No7 cleansers and toners. I was using the beautifully balanced but they were making my skin a bit dry which was then making it produce more oil (total nightmare) so I switched to the soft and soothed. The product is pink although I have nearly run out so I doubt you can see that from the picture. These usually retail at £8each. I would not pay that much for a cleanser. I just wait til the No7 £5 voucher offer is on pinch all the vouchers I can get off friends and family and that makes them a steal at £3 a bottle. Just as cheap as any budget brand cleansers and toners so well worth stocking up when you can. (The £5 voucher thing is on til Monday 11th). I love LOVE these and don't think I will ever switch.
Moisturiser next! I recently got samples of Astral light and Creamy from a neighbour who had done Race for Life. I like the origional astral for moisturising my hands but thought it was too heavy for a facial moisturiser so when I got the chance to try this I was really excited. I fell in love with it instantly. It is so light yet so nourishing to your skin. It soaks in straight away, so if you are in a rush to get ready you can put make up on right away (with other moisturisers I had to wait at least 15mins for it to soak in). The big tub you see in the picture is 200ml and cost me £2.99 from Savers. I guess this may last me until February, and i only opened it today!! You really don't need to use a lot of it at all so it is a steal. I don't think I will find a better moisturiser for that price. I would like to try the No7 moisturisers - even though they are really expensive - if anyone has tried them let me know.
FINALLY (this has lasted forever I am really sorry!!) face wipes. I use these at night just quickly to take off my make up. I bought these on holiday in Devon in a pack of three. You got one pack of 3in1, one pack of exfoliating and one pack of deep cleansing. You will not believe me when I say they cost a pound, yes that's right ONE POUND. And that was for all three packs. However, I'm running low and can't find these where I live. That is a total nightmare. The wipes are so thick and they work really well. A lot better than anything else I have tried. I find that some wipes tend to be quite rough but these are really soft and kind to your skin. If anyone knows where to find these wipes let me know, I'm a desperate woman!!!
Sorry for the ridiculously long post, I intended to do the next one on everyday foundation routine so goodness knows how long that will be!!
V xxx

Hello!

Hello everybody!
So. . .lately I have become OBSESSED with watching beauty videos and tutorials on youtube and reading blogs on here so I have decided to do one of my own! I am totally new to blogging so lets hope this doesn't end up a total disaster.
Will post a bit more about me and my everyday skincare routine very soon
V xxx