Essence Multi Action Mascara Quick Review

I'm not sure if I have weird lashes or bad luck with mascara but I've never found one that's wowed me. I've tried all the ones people rave about; Diorshow, Bad Gal, Masterpiece Max, The Colossal... the list goes on. The best one I've used yet is Bourjois Volume Glamour but it's very messy to apply. The worst I've used is probably Bourjois 1001 lashes. 

This Essence mascara promised a false lash effect, which it does not deliver. Ok for €3 I wasn't expecting too much, but I've seen so many people rave about it on blogs.

It's an ok mascara. It has a regular, tapered brush and it makes me lashes look slighly longer and thicker. Like most cheap mascaras it smells awful. It's a very dry mascara which is good in that it won't make a mess, but bad in that it doesn't hold a curl. 

One very strange thing I found about this mascara is that it disappears. Have you ever fallen asleep in your mascara? Or forgotten you were wearing it and rubbed your eye? You know how it smudges all over the place and looks like crap? That doesn't happen with this. One night I fell asleep with it on and when I woke up the next morning I had none of those tell tale smudges. Thinking it maybe just had very good staying power I broke out the eye makeup remover and cleaned my lashes, but there was no mascara on them. It was very weird. 

Here's a before and after picture (excuse the smudges under my eyes, I didn't take my eyeliner off properly. 

You can see that it makes my lashes look a little longer and thicker, but it's not working any miracles. I would rebuy this for a festival or something where I wanted a cheap and cheerful mascara that I wouldn't care about losing but otherwise I won't be repurchasing. 

This costs €2.99 from Essence. 

Any suggestions of mascaras for me to try next?

Kryolan Aquacolour Review and Swatches

You might have noticed in my Halloween post I used Kryolan Aquacolours. I bought this palette last week after eyeing it up for a while. I figured I couldn't let Halloween go past without buying it and I needed most of the colours in it anyway so I decided to go for it instead of buying individual facepaints. 

I'm really impressed by it. The colours are mega pigmented, smooth and creamy and just glide on. It was a little tricky at the start getting the water to facepaint ratio right but once I got the hang of it it was easy. 

The paints all come in individual pots with covers. The covers are nice because they stop accidental colour mixing. Also the pots detach from the palette so I assume you could swap them around with other palettes if you like.

The colour selection is great. By mixing colours you could make nearly any colour you want from this. Here's some swatches. 

The black isn't really glittery, I must have gotten some gold mixed in.

I think the gold is my favourite, it's so metallic and shiny. 

Pros:

Good colour selection

Versatile. They can be used as facepaints, eyeshadow bases, blush, lipstick... anywhere really. 

Great colour payoff

They come in a sturdy metal box. None of that cardboard rubbish that disintigrates. 

Can be applied sheer or very opaque depending on how much water you use.

There's plenty of choice, you can get 6, 12 or 24 colour palettes or buy the colours individually. 

Very good value, this palette was only €25 for 12 colours, which is just over €2 per colour. 

They smell amazing! A little like baby powder. 

They don't budge. I wore these to work on Saturday night for an 8 hour shift in a hot sweaty pub and I had no creasing, no smudging or fading. 

Cons:

The pink and blue stained my eyes slightly. That being said my eyemakeup remover is fairly rubbish, so I'm sure a decent one would remove them entirely. 

If you dislike dramatic makeup these are probably not for you. 

Kryolan products can be difficult to find. I stumbled upon these at a local chemist, they were in a Special Effects makeup section. 

 Overall I really reccomend Aquacolours. I can see mine getting loads of use, especially as eyeshadow bases. Looking at the different palettes I think this one might be the best to begin with, as it has all the basic colours. I'd go with the palettes over the individual colours as you get a nice selection and they're all kept together so if you tend to lose things like I do you'll be less likely to misplace them. 

I bought my palette from O'Beirns Pharmacy in Galway for €24.99. If you'd like to buy them online check out Shrinkle's Ebay shop

Halloween

Did everyone have a good Halloween? I had a great one. 

I was working on Friday and Saturday night and I saw some great costumes at work; a digger with a working arm, a bedside dresser complete with socks, an alarm clock and a lamp, lego blocks, an in the box Barbie and a myriad of zombies. 

Thankfully there didn't seem to be as many 'sexy' costumes about this year (you know, 'sexy nurse', 'sexy firewoman', 'sexy chinese takeout' and all that ridiculousness) and there were an awful lot of original, well thought out costumes. 

I went as Space on Saturday to work and as Lady Gaga to go out on Sunday. My Gaga costume was very last minute so it wasn't fantastic (a lot of people thought I was meant to be David Bowie) but it was a fun costume to put togethere. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of my outfits but I got a few of my makeup. 

Space

I wore this with my Black Milk Galaxy leggings, a pair of metallic green Topshop hot pants, silver Dr Martens and an oversized black Topshop jumper with stars and moons. 

Face: 

Kryolan White Aquacolour

MAC Grape Pigment (cheeks)

MAC Hipness Blush

Kryolan Gold Aquacolour (highlight)

 

Eyes: 

UDPP

Kryolan Yellow, Gold, Orange, Red, Blue, Turquoise and Purple Aquacolours

MAC Chrome Yellow e/s

Lips: 

Natural Collection Apple Blossom lipstick

This was my original plan of what makeup to do, but I changed it around. You see I wanted to get the yellows and oranges in there to represent the sun, as well as the darker colours for space. Since I had to work I didn't want to do this lip, as I wouldn't have had time for touch ups and it would have looked crap quickly, so I had to incorporate the dark colours into my eye makeup instead. It's a pity because I really liked this lip. 

Yes the orange brows look weird, I was just trying some stuff out really quickly.

Lady Gaga

With this I wore my Black Milk leggings again and the same hotpants. I also wore pink Dr Martens, a printed dress (top? It was kind of inbeween) with sheer sleeves and my leather jacket. 

In my hair I used Claire's Accessories Blond hairspray which I don't reccommend, it was more gold than blonde and there wasn't enough in the can to cover my whole head. I put my hair in a fauxhawk which was surprisingly easy and I might do a tutorial on it and used TIGI Rockaholic hairspray to hold it up. 

Face: 

Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation

Kryolan White Aquacolour

MAC MSFN Medium (contour)

MAC Hipness blush

Bourjois Rose D'or blush

Bourjois Highlight Powder

 

Eyes:

UDPP

Kryolan Pink Aquacolour (lid)

Pixie Epoxy 

Barry M DD85 Neon Pink (lid)

GOSH Rosewood Effect Powder (crease and outer lid)

Kryolan Turquoise Aquacolour (bottom lasline)

MAC Aquadisiac (inner bottom lashline) and Electric Eel (outer bottom lashline)

UD Yeyo 24/7 liner (inner eye highlight) 

MAC Nanogold e/s (over Yeyo)

MAC Orb and Shore Leave (browbone highlight)

MAC Spiced Chocolate e/s (brows)

Kryolan Orange and Red Aquacolours (lightning bolt)

Aldi Lacura falsies

Essence Multi Action Mascara

In my hair I wore this 50c flower hairband from Penneys

Lips: 

Revlon Black Cherry lipstick

And I wore this studded hairband (2 for 50c, also from Penneys) and the same cardboard stars I wore for my space costume.

 

Did anyone see any good costumes on Halloween?

Burt's Bees Cleanser and Exfoliator Review

I thought I'd do a quick review on the face products I'm using at the moment. 

I'm a big fan of Burt's Bees products and I like almost all of them, so I've been using their cleanser for the past 3 years or so and more recently I've begun to use their exfoliater. 

Image from backyardgardner.com because my tube is old and wouldn't make for a great picture

So this is the cleanser I use, the Soap Bark and Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream. I absolutely love it. It makes my skin feel clean, soft and doesn't leave it dry or oily or anything.

Pros:

It smells AMAZING. It reminds me a little of sherbert or something. 

It gives a nice tingly sensation on your face which I love, but some people might find slightly uncomfortable.

It removes makeup reasonably well.

The cap is on the bottom so no shaking it trying to get product out.

It's 97% natural. Now I'm not too fussed about using natural products, but for me it's a plus if a product I love doesn't have too many nasties in it. 

It lasts a long time. I've been going through a bottle every 9-10 months.

It's good for clearing pores.

Not tested on animals, which is always a plus.

Cons:

It's not great for removing eye makeup. I use it if I'm only wearing very light eye makeup but anything heavy and I have to break out an eye makeup remover. Also whatever gives it the nice tingly effect stings if it gets in your eyes. 

It doesn't foam. I prefer that it doesn't foam, because foaming is usually caused by SLS which I try to avoid as much as I can. However if you like a foaming wash this may not be ideal for you. 

Overall I definitely recommend this, it's great. 

I assume this is easy to find everywhere, here's it available in healthfood shops and chemists and retails for around €13 for a 6oz tube. I get mine from Evergreen who have a website here from which you can buy this product if you're in Europe.

Picture from thedailyobsession.net

I bought this Peach and Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub around a month ago. I needed a new exfoliator and I saw this on clearance in a chemist so I bought it. I'm quite unimpressed with it. 

Pros:

It smells nice

After using it my face feels quite soft

On my neck it works well

Not tested on animals

98% natural

Cons:

The Exfoliating bits are so scratchy!!  Apparently it's "finely ground peach stones" but there's nothing finely ground about it. They're big, sharp bit's of peach stone and they're uncomfortable on my face. 

It doesn't go far at all, you need to use an awful lot of it in each go. 

My face feels quite dry after I use it.

I don't recommend this at all. I'll probably use it to exfoliate my neck and arms but it's way too harsh for my face.

I paid €7 for this, but I think it's around €12 full price.

Chessur & Mad Hatter at a Midnight Tea Party

   Today's FOTD is using my Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette

Face: 

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

UD 24/7 Concealer in CIA

17 Translucent Loose Powder

MAC MSFN Medium

MAC Hipness Blush

Bourjois Highlighting Powder

MAC Fix +

 

 

Eyes:

UDPP 

Pixie Epoxy

UD Midnight Cowboy Rides again e/s (inner lid)

UD Chopper e/s (all over lid and above crease)

UD Twice Baked e/s (crease and outer lid)

UD Oil Slick e/s (crease)

UD Yeyo 24/7 liner (inner eye highlight)

UD X e/s (over Yeyo)

MAC Orb and Shore Leave e/s (browbone)

UD Bourbon 24/7 liner (lower lasline)

UD Zero 24/7 liner (waterline)

Essence Multi Action Mascara

MAC Spiced Chocolate e/s (brows)

 

 

Lips: 

MAC Freckletone lipstick

What an attractive picture :p

I love how Midnight Cowboy Rides Again looks over Pixie Epoxy. I've always liked the colour (so much so that I have 3 of them) but I do find it to be a bit of a glitterbomb and that once I start blending the glitter disappears from my eyes. But over the Pixie Epoxy the glitter stays put, so happy days!

Aztec Gold

Can I just say how much I am in love with Pixie Epoxy? 

All those loose shadows I've had lying around are getting so much love right now. 

Face: 

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

17 Translucent Loose Powder

MAC MSFN Medium

MAC Hipness Blush

Bourjois Highlighting Powder

MAC Fix +

 

 

Eyes: 

UDPP

Pixie Epoxy

Fyr Aztec Gold e/s (lid)

MAC Time and Space e/s (inner lid)

Fyr Dragonskin e/s (outer lid)

UD Zero e/s (crease)

MAC Orb, Shore Leave and Nanogold e/s (browbone highlight)

UD Yeyo 24/7 liner (inner eye highlight)

UD X e/s (over Yeyo)

UD Honey 24/7 liner (bottom lid + waterline)

UD Honey e/s (over liner) 

Essence Multi Action Mascara

MAC Spiced Chocolate e/s (brows)

I seriously messed up my mascara

Lips: 

MAC Freckletone lipstick

MAC Nymphette gloss

I finally found my Freckletone lipstick! It's been missing for a month or two, which was super annoying because it's my go-to nude. I was considering buying a new one but at €17 or so a pop it wasn't something I was looking forward to, especially since the one I lost was still at least half full. 

But I was tidying last week and I found it down in the bottom of a shopping bag. :D

A few things on my mind

Cross Tattoo, Kate Moening, Candles, Aviator Jacket, Creepers, Print, Dancing