The Business Of Beauty

I’ve been meaning to try this mascara ever since it came out. I don’t have many products of benefits if I’m completely honest although what products I do have or have tried seem to be pretty good. They are a little on the expensive side as I deem the quirky packaging more upmarket drugstore brand compared to the elite beauty brands like YSL, Dior, Bobbi Brown etc. but it does put a smile on your face when you pick up their products.

This new mascara claims to visibly lift lashes, give a long lasting curl and make eyes look wider. I may appear to be cynical now but bear with me… I have really short dark lashes anyway that don’t have a curl to them, in fact I think they stick out like cow lashes but nothing a little eye lash curler can’t solve. Regarding the claim about making the lashes look more open I think its pretty vague as any type of mascara will darken your lashes and make your eyes look wider, but anyway, most mascaras I’ve tried have never held a curl for a full day and the only formula that came close was a waterproof one, but then you have to practically rip your eyelashes out to get it off and no one likes that.

So ever the optimist I set about trying to see if the claims are true! After waking up and spending possibly 20 minutes scrolling though Instagram looking at other beauty bloggers I realised I would have to eventually drink my cup of tea and start to make a move and look presentable for the day (10 more minutes? maybe…)

I judge my mascaras pretty harshly as I find that throughout the day they tend to flake or smudge and as a wearer of glasses this can be pretty annoying as all the little flakes of mascara stick to your lenses where you can’t get them out and they just look constantly dirty, which clearly doesn’t help my vision as no matter what I do, by the end of the day my glasses are filthy. (seriously I can’t be the only person this happens too!)

So let the games begin… First impressions the mascara isn’t too wet, its a deep black and it goes on well. The tiny curved wand allows you to get all of your lashes in one coat, this means you’re not likely to overload them and end up with the dreaded spider leg lashes! although one coat is lovely for a daytime or understated look I prefer to go for two coats to add a little extra volume and it handles it pretty well.

Not so sure about it giving you a long lasting curl as I didn’t have one to begin with but it did stay put pretty well throughout the day, pictures below, the only comment I have is the volume didn’t stay very well on my bottom lashes however it didn’t flake down my face which is a giant plus!

Over all I did really like this mascara, it isn’t my go too mascara but I would probably purchase it on the way through duty free maybe in a spur of the moment type purchase before jetting off on holiday. 

** On my Brows I have Illamasqua Browcake in Thunder with Maybelline Brow Drama in Medium Brown and on my eyelid I have a very subtle wash of Maybelline On and On Bronze**

What are your go too mascaras? I’d love to know comment!

Next was the Caudalíe vinoperfect serum. The bottle was the same size as the philip kingsley yet was half empty! The serum is meant to reduce dark spots after 56 days of am and pm use (totally not enough to use it for that long so I can’t comment on that part) the texture of the serum is quite runny and being oil free it seemed very thin which on one hand helped it sink into the skin really quick but personally I felt it was too quick and I was left feeling a dire need for moisturiser. It did smell pretty nice, slightly fruity fresh (is that a smell? i don’t know) but at £45 I wouldn’t be rushing to get any soon. As you can see in the photo below, the texture is a little too runny for me. The search for the perfect serum is still on!

Moving on to Whish three wishes lavender body butter, this stuff is amazing! Personally I love the smell of lavender but this isn’t an old lady lavender smell, it has a lovely sweet vanilla lavender scent which makes it a treat to put on. In my box I got a 22ml sample and a full size bottle is £14.50, I would definitely buy the full size one and I’m looking to see what other products they have. It does what it says on the tin, moisturised while smelling lovely. Being paraben, sulphate, DEA, TEA and Petrochemical free it made me that little bit happier knowing that I wasn't putting anything nasty on my skin. The price tag was surprisingly good to say its a naturally sourced product with organic ingredients too!

Next was one of my favourites. Catherine Malandrino Style De Paris eau de parfum. This perfume smells really good, the packaging isn’t attractive at all and if I’m honest I wouldnt have even picked it up in the store as it looks like quite a manly perfume with the black and gold packaging. You know what they say, don’t judge a book by its cover! It has a citrus top note with a fruity twist, the only way I can describe it is a mix between Victoria Secrets secret escapes body spray and Lancôme La Vie Est Belle. This will be on my summer perfume list, find it here. 

The last 2 bits on my box where a cute little note book to write anything and everything and a couple of sample chapters of A Perfect Heritage by Penny Vincenzi. 

Over all I was pretty impressed with this months birch box and at £12.95 you cant complain. I love the idea and I can’t wait for April’s box! Keep a look out as I’ve got another post on the Glamour Spring beauty box coming soon!!

 Have you got any Beauty boxes that you’d recommend?

I love a good face mask, who doesn’t? Nothing beats a pamper session that leaves your skin glowing, but if I’m honest I don’t do it nearly as often as I should. The 10 or 15 minutes required to put it on, wait and wash it off again is a 10 or 15 minutes I’d rather spend doing something else. 

So while I was out shopping the other day in Superdrug I spotted some sheet face masks, the ones that look a bit like the Jason mask

out of Friday 13^th, and thought they looked interesting.

Mainly I’m just being lazy because you just take the handy little sheet out place it on your face wait 5 minutes take it off and splash your face with water. Voila! Face mask benefits + no mess = happy me.

There are 4 masks, deep cleansing, purifying, calming and moisturising. The only one I didn’t get was the moisturising one. I’m having a bit of a bad skin week so I tried the purifying mask first.

The Purifying mask has a blend of tea tree oil targeted at normal to oily skin. It smelled quite minty which was nice as I love the smell, it was very refreshing and after taking it off did leave my skin smooth but no massive difference.

The Calming Mask doesn't have a very nice smell to it at all, slightly reminds me of toilet bathroom cleaner! No tingle with this mask and again leaves my skin feeling nicely refreshed.

The Detoxifying Mask had quite a manly smell, and did tingle as the 5 minutes went on. Another I wasn't a fan of in the fragrance department I think I started with the best one!

I would probably say that if you have seriously problematic skin you should probably look elsewhere for a more intensive mask but if you just want to have a little fun or need one for traveling (handy foil packets) these are perfect. 

With the size of the masks themselves and the general smell of all of them I would also say they were pretty gender neutral so if you've been trying to get a male friend to try a face mask, these masks would be the perfect try out! I'd suggest the deep cleansing one as that was the one that smelled the most manly.

The masks retail at £1.29 at Superdrug but I got mine on 3 for 2 you can find them here 

Does anyone know of any intensive sheet masks that are pretty good? Leave a comment below and ill be sure to check it out.

I for one am a big fan of Barry M Nail colour I think that most of the colours have a good pay off with two coats and providing you prep the nail with basecoat and finish off with a good topcoat you’re good to go. 

I have found mine to last at least 5 days, going up to 7+ if I take care not to do anything that would chip them. In all honesty, I like to change my nail varnish quite often so I don’t give it time to look scruffy.

 In the Speedy collection they have released 9 new colours *listed below* all in pretty pastel colours ready for spring/summer. The new quick dry formula is pretty good but the stand out for this new collection is the flat brush. It makes the application process much easier and quicker, or you could say speedy…..

I love the checkerboard top on all the bottles it makes it easy to find them and it just looks plain cute! It also goes along with the theme of the collection with all of the polishes themselves having Racings/car related names. I have to say my favourites are definitely Pit stop and Lap Of Honour.

Stop The Clock – Pale creamy yellow. 

Full Throttle – Pastel Tangerine, Not a bright in your face orange, unique colour

Pit Stop – Light Grey, Cool ashy undertone

In A Heart Beat – Pastel coral pink, unusual colour look amazing with a tan and on toes!

Kiss Me Quick – Pretty all round standard baby pink, can’t go wrong but nothing out of the ordinary

Lap Of Honour – Grey Tone Lilac Purple

Road Rage – Pastel Jade green, Slightly mint coloured

Eat My Dust – Pastel Blue, you will have seen this before like Kiss Me Quick but again lovely shade

Pole Position – Pastel Spring green, more of a traditional green than Road Rage with a yellow tone

These polishes are available at boots and Superdrug now retailing at £3.99 each. If you spend half your life in either of these stores like me you’ll know that they often have a 3 for 2 events on so keep a look out!

*I got my polishes when there was a 2 for £7 offer in Superdrug*

What is your favourite colour of the new collection? Leave a comment below

This is something I have always wanted to do, not just because I have a passion/obsession with makeup and all things beauty but I love finding out about new and innovative products. I mean who doesn’t want to find that perfect lipstick that stays put all the way through the night in the perfect red? Or that multipurpose lip and cheek product that you can’t live without.

So I thought I would start a blog and share the things I find with anyone who’s interested in knowing. I’ve never been to a makeup class in my life (hopefully that with change!) and I am self-taught recreating looks I see in magazines and professional MUA’s I see in social media. 

I hope that you find something that you’ve been looking for, even if its something I’m not so fond of, try it out, everyone is different it could be that miracle product you’ve been looking for.

I hope through my blog you will be able to try new things that you otherwise wouldn’t have found, if you see products that I have reviewed leave a comment and let me know what you think of it, and feedback would be appreciated as I don’t claim to know everything!

Stay tuned for more blogs posts