Top 5 Mascara Favourites: Lancome, Avon, Miss Sporty and MUA.

Today I have a top 5 post for you, and it features all my favourite mascara. I'm going to do these posts every so often because my mascara loves are always changing because I'm a bit of a mascara floozy! 

Lancome Hypnose Star link, Avon Super Extend Extreme link, MUA every lash link, Avon Super Shock Max link, Miss Sporty Studio Lash link.

Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara

This is my number one mascara and would highly recommend it. It stands the test of time, it stays on through tears of laughter and it doesn’t smudge or flake throughout the day. It curls, adds volume, lengthens and just makes your lashes look the bomb.com.

Avon Super Extend Extreme Mascara

I got this free in a magazine, and didn’t expect the world but it’s amazing. I have one tiny issue that stops it being my all-time favourite and it’s the size of the wand. When I think of a lengthening mascara, I don’t think of big fat wands and this isn’t thin in the slightest. But it adds just enough volume to lift your lashes but adds gorgeous length to them. It also makes them super black which is brilliant for those of us with super blonde lashes.

MUA Every Lash Mascara

This is a dupe for Benefit They’re Real, but only about £3. It’s got a nice plastic wand with a ball on the end which helps separate lashes and get those pesky little lashes that you can’t get with the regular want. It curls nicely, and adds a little volume. It coats the lashes super well, and lasts all day. Nothing gets this off, which is another reason it’s similar to They’re Real.  Unfortunatly, this is discontinued now which kills me because it was a killer mascara and a total bargain. 

Avon Super Shock Max Mascara

I don’t know what I think this is similar to Max Factor False Lash Effect/Cover Girl Lash Blast because it’s not that similar but it adds volume and coats the lashes like nothing else. Little lashes are a little hard to get with the GIANT wand that you get but if you’re careful it’s a lovely effect on the lashes.

Miss Sporty Studio Lash Mascara

This is my top cheap mascara. It’s £2.99 and worth every penny. I’d pay more for it to be totally honest. It has a nice sized want, with a tapered tip. It’s so black it’s unreal, and it coats your lashes in one swipe. It gives your lashes some lift, and adds volume and lengthens them like nothing else. 

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day, 

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Disappointing Products #2

I'm an impulse buyer. I wish I was the kind of person who could see something they liked, walk away from it, research it and go back if I liked it or leave it has bad reviews. I just can't do that. I have no will power, and if I see something I want I get it. That, unfortunately, leads to me being disappointed a fair ol' few times because I haven't read up on anything. So, today I have my disappointing products part 2. You can read part 1 here.

  Lets start with hair products. I have two at the moment that just aren't impressing me. I actually mentioned one of these in my last one, but I photographed it again without realizing it. I won't say much about that one, you can just go and read the last post! 

Nicky Clarke Endless Waves Leave In Conditioning Spritz

This just doesn't do anything to my hair. Maybe my hair is too curly or dry or something, but it does nothing. I like that it's a spray but it doesn't give my hair any kind of conditioning. The Gliss Liquid Keratin is much a better option if you want something like that, or even This Is 10 products if you can afford them. 

Kerastase Soleie Overnight Restorative Treatment 

It does nothing. That's all I say! Check out my last one for a better description.

Daisy Eau So Fresh By Marc Jacobs 

I love this perfume, but I regret spending so much money on it because I don't wear it. The scent is like Parmaviolets, which made me want it. But I just can't find occasions to wear it like I can with perfumes like Lola or Wonderstruck so it just sits there. It looks nice on the dressing table, but that's about it.

Soap and Glory Lid Stuff in Off The Wall Flowers

I think I've raved about these in the past, but after trying other shadows I realize these really aren't that great. It's partly my fault for getting a palette with a couple of colours I wouldn't use to often, but it's partly the product because they aren't that pigmented, and they aren't that easy to work with. There are much better shadows out there like MUA or Sleek or even NARS. 

Sleek Blush By 3 Palette in Sugar 

 This is my fault really because I probably picked the worst colour range for my skin tone. These blushes are great, but they aren't as great as some as the single blushes I've tried. The matte ones tend to go on a little patchy, and the shimmery one is just not the right colour for me. 

Collection Cover & Go Foundation and Concealer Duo 

This isn't good. I reviewed it here is you want to give it a read, but to sum up I just don't like this. The foundation goes on really strangely. It offers little to no coverage, and lasts about an hour. The concealer is very sticky and doesn't dry or set in any way. It offers a little coverage, but not enough for a concealer and it's just not creamy enough for me. 

Miss Sporty So Matte Perfect Stay Foundation

This claims to wear 14 hours. It doesn't. This claims to be a matte finish foundation. It's not. It claims to give you a flawless looking complexion. It doesn't This offers very little coverage. It doesn't go on very well, and it doesn't go matte. It's not really dewy, but it's not matte by any stretch of the imagination. If I can get it to look acceptable on my skin, it doesn't last anywhere near 14 hours, or 4 hours for that matter. 

 

Lipcote This stuff stings like a bitch, for lack of a better phrase. I just cannot even bare to put this on my mouth anymore. Even if my lips are not chapped, or cracked (which is barely ever) it hurts, but even the smallest crack on your lips ensures that you want to rip this stuff off your face. It doesn't really keep my lipstick on longer either. It creates this strange texture on your lips, and if you rub your lips together the lipstick comes off in a weird balls of products. 

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Gloss in Quartz

 This is okay for a gloss I suppose, but it's not good enough for the price you pay. I just find that it doesn't offer enough gloss, if that makes sense. When you pull the wand out, there isn't enough product on the wand to even do a one lip, and feels greasy on the lips. Whilst it feels greasy on the lips it doesn't offer any kind of highly glossy finish. Just not worth it in my opinion.

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Miss Sporty Studio Lash Mascara

Miss Sport Studio Lash Mascara, link

I think there a few versions of this mascara, and whilst it doesn’t specify the differences on the packaging, from what I’ve seen online I have the Instant Volume version. It’s meant to lift lashes by 70% and make the up to 60% longer. I’m not one for these stats though because I can’t fathom how you can measure that but I can say that this mascara does lift lashes and makes them look longer. Whether that’s by 60/70% I don’t know.

Miss Sporty say it has “zero clumps” but I would have to disagree with it. If you don’t wipe you brush a little before using it, it can clump on your lashes. Also, if you coat your lashes to many times it can clump big style. But, with 2 coats, and a little wiping it’s awesome. 

They also claim its “smudge and smear proof” which I would agree with but I’ve never really has a mascara smudge or smear on my before.  It does take a little while to dry which is a little which can be an issue. Especially if you’re like me, and the moment you put mascara on you need to sneeze. It’s pretty common that I end up with mascara all around my eyes because I’ve shut my eyes to much too fast.

They market the wand as a “next generation applicator” which is a little much. It’s a nice wand, and I love that it’s plastic because that’s what floats my boat but I wouldn’t say it’s next generation. I love the tapered tip but I’ve seen it before. 

Overall, it’s a great mascara. It’s especially great considering it’s only £2.99. It’s just as good as some mascara’s I’ve paid £10-£14 for, and better than any MAC one I’ve tried.

I Heart Drugstore Makeup TAG

What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand?

This is a tough one for me because I really only use drugstore products, and every brand excels in one things like Revlon and their lip products or Maybelline and their mascaras. Overall, I think it would be either Maybelline because I love their mascara’s, some of their foundations and some lip products to or it would be MUA because even though some products aren’t amazing the value for money and quality of most products is amazing!

What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?

 

Is Soap and Glory a drugstore brand? I’m going to say they are and say my favourite face product is Hocus Focus. It’s a highlighting lotion that I mix in with either my moisutriser or foundation to give a nice glow to any foundation I put on.

Again, I have to ask, is Topshop considered drugstore? I mean they are reasonably cheap but you can’t get them in places like Boots or Superdurg. If it is considered drugstore my favourite cheek product would be their cream blushes. I rave and rave about them all the time because I think they are amazing. If not, then I would have to go with the Sleek blushes because they are reasonably priced and they are amazing quality. 

My favourite lip products are just too hard to choose. I love something in almost every brand but I do adore the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains at the moment. I think everyone in the blogger world has heard about these. They are essentially dupes for the Clinique chubby sticks, and the Chubby Stick Intense. They are jumbo pencil like products that have the staying power of a lipstick with the application quality of a balm. They only thing I’m not a fan of is the taste and smell. To me it’s like old tasting old chewing gum, like stale mint. I’m not sure why they have that mint taste because it’s not needed.

  Least favorite product?

This is a question I could go on and on about because while the drugstore has some amazing products there are many, many terrible products out there to. I think I would have to go with the Maybelline Dream Foam foundation though. This is something I own, or will ever own. I’ve tried it out once on my face and hated it. It didn’t offer any coverage and it felt horrid on my skin. I don’t like the packaging because you have very little control over how much comes out of the bottle. And lastly the fact that it doesn’t come off any surface worries me a lot. I work in a place that sells Maybelline products, and as soon as the testers were put out I knew it was a recipe for disaster. People testing them didn’t expect the explosion of mousse that comes out of the tube. They rub it off on the stand and when you go to clean that stand, nothing gets it off. I mean me and my colleagues have tried everything. Baby wipes, makeup remover, oil based products, nail varnish remover and even industrial strength cleaner and nothing works. If that’s what it does to the stand, can you imagine what it does to your face?  

What is the best makeup bargain?

 I would have to say it’s the £1 range that MUA offer. The lipsticks and eyeshadows are the stand out products for me and they are worth so much more than £1. I rate them over some of the more expensive brands like L’Oreal and the shadows can even beat out some of my MAC shadows.

What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

 This is a tough one because I’m very influenced by bloggers and most of the products I own are popular (and for a good reason). If I had to choose just one thing, it would probably be Miss Sporty mascaras. People see the brand Miss Sporty as something very cheap and it’s often over looked but they offer a wonderful range of mascaras that are super cheap and are great quality. My current favourite is the volume Studio Lash, but they have something for everyone.

A drugstore product that is overpriced?

L’Oreal products are very expensive in my opinion but I think anything from MeMeMe is overpriced. While I love their products, I often don’t head to that stand because it’s so expensive and I can get similar products for a cheaper price. The most overpriced thing for me would either be their foundations or their dew pots.

Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!

I could go on and on about this! I have a fair ol’ few. For lipsticks I would say the best ones are:

• 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Beehive. It’s a good dupe for MAC hue.
• L’Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Boreal. It’s almost an exact match for MAC Blankety.
• The Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss lipstick on 02 is a close match for Girl About Town by MAC.
• Iced Fudged Mono Eyeshadow from Maybelline is a close copy for Satin Taupe by MAC. It’s a little more chunky, with a bit more glitter but it’s still that gorgeous taupe colour with silver shimmer.
• The MUA Undressed Palette is a good dupe for the Urban Decay Naked Palette.
• A number of MeMeMe products are good dupes for Benefit products like the Fat Cat mascara and Bad Gal.
• The MUA Every Lash mascara is an amazing dupe for Benefit They’re Real. 

Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype? 

This is the hardest question for me because I really cannot think of something over hyped! It might have to be the Revlon Lip Butters. That’s not to say that I don’t adore them, because I do but they aren’t as amazing as they are made out to be. They don’t last all that long and when you apply them again over the top of the first coat they can get a weird texture. Also the darker colours like Macaroon and Lollipop can bleed and you to be careful when applying them because they can get very messy. Also, they don’t fade that evenly, so you can end up with just colour on the outside of your lips.

Smokey Eyes | Drugstore Edition

I love a good smokey eye for a night out and I have a number of options in my collection to help me create a nice look. I was thinking about it the other day and my favourites for creating a smokey eye are all drugstore products so I thought I would share with you my favourite products to create a nice look. 

Let’s start with bases. I think when you are using dark colours like grey and black it’s essential to have a good base down so that the colours go on opaque and stay there. I either reach for my Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Immortal Charcoal (link) or I use my Maybelline Gel Liner in Black (link) as a base all over the lid. It just makes everything more intense which I love. 

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Immortal Charcoal and Maybelline Gel Liner in Intense Black

When it comes to shadows only every really reach for three palettes. The first is from Miss Sporty and is the cheapest of the bunch. It’s just their Eyeshadow quad in Blue Eyes (link). It has four shadows in the tiny palette, and I like that it’s not just greys and black but they have thrown a deep purple in their two. It really makes my eyes pop which I adore. 

Miss Sporty Smokey Eyeshadow Quad in Blue Eyes

The other palette I quite often reach for is the MUA Professional Eyeshadow Palette in Starry Night (link). This is a total bargain at £4 for 12 incredible shadows. You get a nice range of greys and dark colours to create a look along side some amazing highlight shades to make every seem a bit brighter. 

MUA Professional Palette in Starry Night

The last of the shadows that I reach for is a quad from GOSH. I’m not sure you can get this in this packaging any more but GOSH still do quads and trios with amazing smokey eye colours. Anyway, this quad is called Smokey Eyes (link) and had 4 colours in there to create the perfect smokey eye look. I love this palette because I can use it a mirror on a night out to and make up that my shadow stays nice and dark. The colours range from a really nice shimmery white to an intense matte black. The black is actually pretty amazing, and is a really deep black colour. 

GOSH Eye Shadow Collection in 001 Smokey Eyes

Now, in my opinion the smokey eye isn’t complete with a beautiful bit of eyeliner. I tend to switch it up between liquid liner and gel. My favourite gel liner is the Maybelline one I mentioned above, and my favourite liquid liner at the moment is the Collection/Collection 2000 Extreme Felt Tip Liner (link). It’s a nice liner that is really black, and because of the felt tip style it’s nice and easy to apply.

Collection 2000/Collection Extreme Felt Tip Liner (Black)

Kohl liner is super important to me with a smokey eye. A white on the waterline can open your eyes up a little if the black on your lids closes your eyes to much. A black can intensify the look and add a little more drama. I love the Sleek Eau La La liners in Noir (link) and White Noise (link). There are a number of other great liners to like the MUA Intense Colour Liners (link) and Maybelline Master Drama liner (link).

Sleek Eau La La Liners in Noir and White Noise