Top 3: Mascaras

If there's one thing I'm always looking for something bigger and better from it's mascara. As a girl with the straightest lashes ever I always find it hard to find a mascara that actually holds a curl and makes my lashes look somewhat okay. However after trying multiple products I have narrowed it down to my top three mascaras. All of these are available from the high street as mascara is something I don't care to pay loads for.

My first mascara is my all time favourite mascara. It's Maybelline's The Colossal Go Extreme Leather Black. Packed with a mixture of longer and shorter bristles, this brush is tapered to fit the contour of the eye. It has a double pump wand which claims to help add volume but in fact this mascara could do without them as it gives enough definition and volume without double pumping it. I found that when I first opened this mascara I didn't get along with it as was a very wet mascara and did nothing for my lashes. However once it had dried out a little bit I found this gave my lashes beautiful definition and held a curl a lot longer than most mascaras I'd tried. It can be built up to give an extreme dramatic look but for everyday it does fluttery well curled lashes perfectly.

My second pick is the L'Oréal Volume Million Lashes Feline. This would have come top on the list but the formula lets it down. The curved brush has longer bristles on one side and shorter on the other side to give a perfect clump curl to lashes. The ideal use of this brush is to start of with the longer bristles to push the lashes up into the curl and help create volume, then flipping it over to the shorter side to get rid of any clumps and adding that extra oomph if needed. I love the results this mascara gives, it holds my curl even longer than the Maybelline Leather Black and my lashes still look as good at the end of the day as they did in the morning. However the formula lets this product down for me. Whilst it doesn't clump, this formula is very much a wet formula that easily transfers onto my eyelids. If it was slightly drier like my Maybelline Leather Black this would be my ultimate holy grail mascara. Alas it's not but I still love the finish it gives my lashes. 

 And the last pick on my list is Rimmel's Wonder'Full Wake Me Up Mascara. This has another brush that fits to meet the contour of the eye, however this one flares out at each end so it catches even the tiniest of lashes. The shape of the brush gives lashes volume and curl but unfortunately doesn't hold them for long. I like this mascara on it's own but it would work better if partnered with a mascara that does hold a curl better. This one smells like cucumber and really gives the eyes a wide awake feeling. It's a wet formula but unlike the L'Oréal Volume Million Lashes Feline it doesn't transfer onto my eyelids. Definitely one to try if you're looking for more natural lashes. 

So that's it for my top three mascaras. Are any of your favourites on there? Do you have recommendations for me to try? Let me know in the comments.

L'Oréal Does Matte Lips

When it comes to high street brands and matte lips there is a distinct lack of products out there. So I thought I would start a series where I try out all the matte lip products that each brand have to offer. The first brand I'm going to go with is L'Oréal for no other reason that it was jotted down as an idea in my Blog Idea Book. 

When it comes to matte lip products L'Oréal don't have a very wide selection unlike other brands which will come later in the series. However the matte products they do have I'm impressed by and am going to talk you throw them below. 

This is my latest L'Oréal addition but it's very quickly become my favourite. It is one of the L'Oréal Color Riche Lipsticks. It's in the shade 430 Mon Jules and was a new release earlier in the year when L'Oréal did a shade shake up with their Color Riche Lipsticks. This is one of about 5 shades that they released with a matte finish. A dark burgundy red, this is very creamy and easy to apply to the lips. However it doesn't dry down to a true matte finish, at best it's a satin finish as it doesn't budge but doesn't have dryness that comes with most matte finish lipsticks. If you're looking for a new dark lipstick for autumn/winter then I recommend you swatch this when you're next at a L'Oréal stand. 

 This is one of the newer products that L'Oréal have brought out but for me it's also one of the most disappointing. The L'Oréal Infalliable Mega Gloss is a replacment for their Glam Shine Lip Glosses. Unlike the Glam Shine Glosses they had a selection of matte shades and the first thing that disappointed me was that all three shades were very similar in colour. I have the shade 407 Smoke Me Up a brilliant deep raspberry shade. The applicator really impressed me and reminded me a lot of the YSL applicators but apart from that this product really didn't impress me. As a liquid lipstick I expected it to dry down to a long wearing matte finish but it didn't and transferred at the slightest touch. It was also hard to apply and as much as I love the colour I don't find myself reaching for this as much as I hoped. 

The last matte offering L'Oréal have is their largest collection of matte lipsticks. It's the Collection Exclusive Pure Reds collection. It consists of four different matte red shades and it's truly a brilliant collection. More matte than any other product, these are still creamy and apply beautifully to the lips. It doesn't feel drying on the lips and whilst there is still a slight bit of transfer it is barely noticable unlike other lipsticks. I have two shades from the range, Blake's Red and Liya's Red. Blake's Red is that blue toned blue and reminds me a lot of MAC's Russian Red whereas Liya's Red looks like a blue toned red in the bullet but actually is more tomato red on the lips. I'll put a picture of Liya's Red underneath.  It may only have a small shade range but this collection really does have a shade to suit anyone. It's another range I recommend swatching when you're at a L'Oréal stand next.

 Overall I like the L'Oréal matte lipsticks but not as much as I do other ranges that are available on the high street. There is also a new Pink Matte Collection but I haven't tried it out so didn't think it fair to mention it. I will be doing a full review though when I've tired it. 

Have you tried any of these products? Did you like them? Or did you prefer other brands? Let me know in the comments. 

Review: L'Oréal Volume Million Lashes Feline

I'm not going to lie when I first saw this on the Boots website I was instantly drawn in by the packaging. I'm still a little googly eyed over the packaging but that's just because I love the colour green. However you're not here to read about me rambling about packaging so I'll just jump right into my review.

Apart from the packaging I was immediately drawn in by the brush. It reminds me a lot of the Maxfactor Clump Defy brush but it's a lot more flexible making it easier to wiggle it as you apply it. The brush is curved to fit to the contours of the eye and helps with a precise and smudge free application. I really like how it fits to my eye and the results it leaves. I don't even have to wiggle it much to get the amount of volume I want. I'll insert a close up of the brush so you can see it in more detail.

When it comes to results I'm thoroughly impressed. I have very straight lashes, that struggle to hold a curl on a good day. However since I've been using this product I've found my lashes hold a curl all day long and look the same in the evening as they did when I first did my make up. A lot of it comes down to the brush and how easy it makes it to apply. I hold it so it lines up with the contour of my eye and use the side with the longer bristles to create the intial curl. Once I've repeated the motion I flip it around to the smaller bristles and comb through my lashes to give them some extra oopmh as well as seperating any lashes that may be stuck together.

When it comes to removing I find it can be quite tricky to get rid of every last bit. I usually use a bio phase eye make up remover which gets rid of most of it but come the next morning and I still find tiny flakes of it under my eyes. The flakiness is something that could be a deal breaker for some people but I've personally found that once it's on my lashes it doesn't budge until I remove it in the evening. However it does make for easier removal if you smudge it or get it on the eye lid. Just wait for it to dry and then roll a dry cotton bud over the top and it flakes away.

Not many mascaras get my seal of approval as I'm pretty faithful to my Maybelline favourite but L'Oréal's latest offering definitely does. A brilliant brush that actually does something to the lashes, a formula that holds a curl on the straightest of lashes and shiny (so so shiny) packaging makes it a must have for anyone looking for a new mascara.

Available Exclusively from Boots