Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeliner In 100% Black Review- No Exaggeration Needed

The Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeliner is not one I reach for everyday. My normal eyeliner look is accomplished with a black kohl pencil in less than a minute. A partial outline of the eyes gives them definition and makes my lashes look thicker. 

However somedays you’re in the mood for a bit more drama, days when you want red lipsticks, colourful hats and flouncy petticoats (my inner drama is severely dated although it prefers the term retro). On days like that, pencil just won’t suffice; the dramatic, dangerous lines of liquid are required.

That’s when I reach for Exaggerate.

It’s not necessarily the easiest eyeliner I’ve ever used, initially I found the handle too far away from the point for full control and the brush occasionally sheds very thin hairs that, while easily detached, can mess up more subtle looks. 

Also while the small part lasts a long time, I’ve found that as it ages it starts to sting my eyes as I apply it (although it stops hurting when it dries and leaves no marks). I have fairly sensitive skin, many skincare products cause unpleasant tingling but this is the only piece of make-up I’ve ever had trouble with. It is, therefore, the only piece of make-up I actually follow the guidelines for. Whether I’ve finished it or not, this gets replaced every year. 

Leaving that aside, as I’ve proven with my multiple repurchases, it is still my favorite liquid eyeliner.

I like the small simplicity of the packaging, it’s eminently transportable but it’s the product inside that I love. For a start, the colour is great. It’s a really intense black and, while I’ve heard some people complain about it greying as the day goes on, for me it stays that way. I also find it very easy to vary thickness without endless reapplying or wiping with cotton buds. 

However the great dramatic look does come at a price; the formula is quite liquid and therefore liable to smudge spectacularly if you don’t let it dry. To avoid looking like Mike Tyson had black paint on his hands when you went 10 rounds with him, leave it for 5 minutes before you do anything else. 

Once dry, the staying power is pretty good. At the end of the day wings won’t have flown off and cat-eyes won’t have closed. I’ve never had a problem with flaking or smudging (attributable to this eyeliner rather than my own fidgeting). However, if I was going out in the evening I would probably reapply. 

There are flaws with this product but the major one, stinging my eyes as it ages, seems specific to me (I have fairly sensitive skin). The end result, however is fabulous for everyone. For £5.29, I cannot help but recommend it. 

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Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick In Blushed- Not Blush, Better

I own twenty lipsticks from various high street or drugstore brands. They live in a turquoise, mock book box carefully organised by shade, cunningly separated into sections by lipliners and snootily overlooking various glosses. Of those twenty lipsticks, fifteen are red. 

Let it never be said that I am unfaithful to the things I love.

However much I adore red lipstick though, it’s not for every situation; high maintenance, high risk and makes me incredibly nervous when trying on other people’s clothes. So sometimes I need another option and my new and current favourite other option is Blushed.

Blushed is a brownish, nude pink shade with a glossy but pearlescent finish. It’s part of the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick line (a pearl shade) and normally retails at £7.49 (though Boots and Superdrug are doing 2 for £10 on Revlon lipsticks at the moment).

My favourite thing about this lipstick is that it a perfect colour-match for lips (how typical that I find that illusive shade in lipstick rather than foundation). That makes it perfect for any relaxed, natural make-up looks because all I’m essentially doing is adding a bit of shimmer and gloss to my lips.

For those without my perfect Blushed-shade lips, I do still think this is worth buying as a great, multipurpose nude pink. It will be as happy with a natural, barefaced look as it is with a smoky eye. If not quite little black dress, it can surely lay a claim to being the little black clutch bag.

It comes in the normal Revlon packaging which I adore. I appreciate packaging has very little to do with the product inside but so much of beauty is how it makes you feel and pretty packaging, interesting histories and cool names are part of the glamour. The shiny black tube with the gold band is endlessly classic. If Coco Chanel had gone budget rather than high fashion, her lipsticks would look like this.

The one thing I don’t like is the clear top. I appreciate the intention is to allow you see the shade but it’s too shadowy to see clearly and it cheapens the look. Could they not just be accurate with the sticker on the bottom?

The lipstick itself is a gorgeous brownish pink that glides on as you apply it (I always apply lipstick from the tube, I just don’t get the same feeling of glamour from a brush) and the colour builds quickly. The end result is a slightly glossy finish with a subtle shimmer, perfect for day and night looks. 

It combines great looks by being very easy to wear (the lipstick equivalent of those irritating girls who are both beautiful and nice). It’s quite moisturising, I’ve never noticed dry patches developing or the lipstick clinging to them while wearing it.  It’s difficult for me to say how long it lasts because I tend to reapply my lipsticks fairly frequently even if they don’t need refreshing but it has survived 3 hour shopping trips with no retouches. 

It’s not my favourite lipstick (that’s red), it’s not even in the top 5 (again all red) but when I’ve been experimenting with eyeshadow, when I’m going to have to wash the lipstick stained glasses, this is the one I reach for. 

Revlon Powder Blush In Smoky Rose Review- For Flushes Not Fevers

Whenever I emerge from my cocoon of books, crisps and faux fur blankets, I’m constantly bombarded with enquiries in about my health. Not because I make hermits look sociable but because, like many pale women, I look constantly ill.

This makes the correct application of blusher even more crucial, too little and I look like I’m dying of consumption in a Bronte book, too much and I look like I’m dying of typhoid instead. A slight flush not a heavy fever is the name of the game. And Revlon’s Powder Blush in Smoky Rose is perfect for this. 

To be frank if you’re not pale this probably isn’t going to do much for you. The blush isn’t particularly pigmented or long lasting and the colour, a light, dusty pink, is not going to show up on darker skins. It barely shows up on my arm (which is considerably more pale and less pink in real life than it is in the photo). 

I appreciate I’m not exactly selling this to you, in fact you could be under the impression that I’m not particularly fond of this product. Certainly, most people wouldn’t be. However this blush perfectly fills two important requirements for me.

It’s endlessly forgiving when it comes to pale skin and heavy handed application. 

Once you reach a certain level of paleness many blushes can be far too strong in colour unless applied carefully in small quantities. Anything else risks looking clown-like (and I personally prefer to risk clown impressions when wearing red lipstick, blusher just isn’t worth it). Smoky Rose however is the perfect colour for a delicate blush. It looks very natural, an excellent choice for fresh faced not wearing make-up looks or when you’ve chosen to have show-stopping lips or eyes. It doesn’t demand attention, it knows it looks good.

You can also be heavy handed, amateurish or a bit slapdash when it comes to application. I promise you it won’t take offence, it’s often the last piece of make-up I put on because I know I can do it in a rush if necessary.

When it comes to application I personally, and probably wrongly, load up the brush before smiling and painting a stripe of blush under each eye going towards the hairline. To look more natural I blend the edges slightly and put a very faint dot over the bridge of my nose (really, really faint, think natural blush rather than potential alcoholic).

The blush is fairly well packaged. You can open it without risking a nail but it’s not going to to come apart in your handbag. The brush is adequate for the purpose with very little shedding and I have happily continued to use it for convenience. You can’t see all your face in the mirror (just eye, cheek and lip segments) and if you use the brush there may be some product transfer but it’s useful on the move. 

It retails for £7.99 which I think is reasonable. I’ve been using it nearly everyday for 4 months and haven’t managed to get rid of the name or the pattern so it would last you a while.

In conclusion it’s a keeper, at least for me. To everyone else it’s the weird boyfriend who makes people wonder “what does she see in him?”

And I’ll tell you, a beautiful, consumption-free future together. So hands off.

Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara Review- Love At First Flutter

The first toe I dipped into the murky but multi-coloured waters of make-up was in Boots. Abandoning my sisters, I wandered over to the Max Factor stand and looked for the distinctive black tube I’d seen used on my lashes at my birthday photo shoot. It was £10.99 and the first piece of make-up I owned that hadn’t come as part of a plastic set. I was sixteen. 

The rest, as they say, is history...

I've tried other mascaras since that day but none have replaced the Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara in my affections, as can be clearly seen by the fact I keep repurchasing it. As loves go it's been pretty constant.

That said, it isn't perfect. The price (it remains £10.99 in both Boots and Superdrug) feels a little high for a high street brand and the formula, at least when first purchased, is really wet. Make-up remover and cotton buds may be necessary to avoid a location specific dalmatian effect. I also find that it does tend to flake a little, I sometimes look in the mirror to find I have the smudged dark circles of the truly exhausted. 

On the other hand, I do still have my truly exhausted membership card somewhere and like many tired people, I have a tendency to rub my eyes so I am inclined to blame my dark circles on myself (and my book collection) rather than the mascara. Similarly although, as we and Cruella DeVil know, dalmatians aren’t born with spots they probably don’t get theirs through bad mascara application so I blame myself for that as well. It becomes a lot easier after the first week when it’s dried up a little.

Leaving aside those quibbles I still think this is one of the best mascaras on the high street. It volumises and lengthens lashes rather than doing one or the other. It can be applied several times without clumping and it is fairly easy to remove, your normal cleanser will do the trick. 

The plastic brush is fairly large, a big barrel and short bristles. It gets on well with my reasonably long lashes but I anticipate that the size could be a problem if your lashes are short. However it does manage to coat most of the blonde roots of my lashes so you can get quite close without smearing it over your eyelids.

It doesn’t give you a false lash effect (because no mascara is going to give you that or we wouldn’t bother with the fiddly business of false lashes) but it does give great, could possibly be natural if you’re that lucky one in a million person with Elizabeth Taylor eyes, lashes. I have yet to find its equal.

Other Women (not those kind)

There are some women who get make up. 

They have a bag full of products that work and a head full of tips of the trade. They collect classic looks like you collect crisp packets and seem to believe they are in a oneupmanship competition with the models in the magazines (the models are losing). They look airbrush perfect after five minutes while a half an hour hog of the mirror is required for you to look like a before picture in a makeover rather than a before picture in an evolution scale.

These women, the ones that get make up, often overlap with another group of women, the ones who make up gets. 

Eyeshadows blend for them, lipsticks stay put for them and foundations, they just can’t do enough; right skin tone, right skin type, they’ll even stay the right colour in all lights while you weep with a batch of testers and an orange jaw line. These women are the mythical unicorns, the ones who make up was made for (because the creators certainly weren’t thinking about you when they made the magic).

Those women, I’m not one of them. There’s no instinctual grasp, no immediate enlightenment. I’m not Monet, I’m your grandmother at her drawing class (unless your grandmother, like mine, is actually quite good in which case I’m someone else’s grandmother). When it comes to make up I have to work at it. 

Fortunately I have realised that make up is actually socially accepted face paint for adults so when I say work I mean play. Because make up is fun. I could write reams about my mental links with glamour and magic and the theatre but that’s what it comes down to, make up is fun, learning to use it is fun and blogging about the journey...

We’ll see.