My Brow Story // Maybelline Brow Gel and Pencil

I was never really into doing my brows. I always left them and assumed that as long as I kept up with plucking the strays every now and then, then they would be fine. I always thought that doing your eyebrows was just another expense and more time required in the mornings when getting ready. However, my  brows have always been a bit on the wild side and never really wanted to sit where they're told; so I soon invested in some clear brow gel to tame them and keep them in place throughout the day, this then progressed to Maybelline's Sculpting Brow Mascara just to add slight colour and to fill out the sparser areas as I was to frightened of brow pencils or anything more intimidating, yet still felt I needed something extra.

One of my pet peeves is bad eyebrows. One's that are completely the wrong colour, totally unnatural shape or just plain fake. I think for me it just looks so out of place and I've always been scared that if I did anything to mine that I would look like that too.
However I was constantly reading how your brows frame your face and how much difference they can make when they are filled in and shaped properly, so being a part of the blogging world I thought I'd take the plunge and just try it out.

The first thing I did was go to my local  No3 Lash & Brow Bar, to get them shaped. They were so so lovely and helpful, considering I didn't really know what I was doing and had never gone before. They measured out the points of my eyebrows and showed me where my arches and ends were supposed to be. Once I was happy, they waxed them into shape (not painful at all!) and showed me where I may need a tad of filling in to help them shape wise. 

So there begins my ventures with a brow pencil. I had already been using the Maybelline Brow mascara for a while therefore was slightly more confident with my brows being more prominent and noticeable. I decided to stick with the same brand as I liked the colour match and they are very affordable. The pencil isn't too waxy and also isn't orange which is a common problem in blonde brow products (see: Avon Perfect Eyebrow Kit), so I'm very happy with that. It's easy to get natural 'hair' looking strokes with this pencil as long as it is kept sharp, which I think is very important for keeping your eyebrows looking as real as possible. As you can see in the swatches above the shades are quite ashy, which is perfect for matches my brows as I have quite fair hair. However it doesn't take much to build up the colour, therefore it is important to step back and have a look at them as you go else you may end up with very dark brows that can appear orange tinged in some lights (as I found out the hard way, damn it).

If you wanted a stronger brow look you could combine these to products, the pencil to fill in and the mascara to set, however I tend to go for one or the other depending on how much time I have when I'm getting ready.

I hope this was helpful and can aid any of you who are slightly shy of the brow department as I was to begin with. However I have noticed a massive difference since I began filling my brows and they definitely do frame your face! So if you are uncertain, there's no harm in giving it a go, or even building your way up, through tinted gel to get you more confident with it.

I am dabbling with other products at the moment that I will review in the near future once I have used them a little more and I definitely have a list of brow products I'd like to try out such as Benefits Brow Gimme Brow and Anastasia's Brow Wiz and possibly using shadows to fill them out.

Let me know what products you like to use in the comments below, I'd love to try out some new products.

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August Favourites

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I went to a festival for 5 days and kind of got out of the routine of blogging and got stuck in a little rut, out of routine, lack of inspiration and writers block almost. But I'm back now and bloody hell it's September! Where did August go? I thought now would be as good a time as any to get myself of my bum and get stuck into blogging, a new month and essentially a new start with going to college; hopefully the routine of college will help me blog more regularly. 

Well goodbye August and hello autumn! I know its not quite autumn yet but it's close enough and it won't be long. Bit late as it's September now but here are my August favourites, I haven't done one of these before so I thought I'd give it a try and I really have been loving some products this month.

L'Oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution

Well I have to say this stuff is bloody brilliant! Could I sound more british? But honestly I'd heard about micellar solutions being amazing at getting makeup off e.g Bioderma yet sadly I can't quite afford Bioderma and I have seen this mentioned so I when I saw it on offer I snapped it up straight away and boy, I am so glad I did. It takes your makeup of in literally a few wipes, even heavy eye makeup is nothing for this. Love it.

SkinSystem matt finish moisturiser by Asda

I was browsing the skincare section in asda whilst my mum was off food shopping because I had seen that Mikhila had mentioned they had their own beauty line now, so I was inquisitive to see what they had. There was also a lot of offers on other brands but this particular product caught my attention; I had never seen a matt finish moisturiser before and wanted to know how this would work, I can't remember how much it was but it was really cheap. It is insane, it moisturises but really does leave a matt finish that combats shine, it's quite strange and you have to put it on quick quickly as it dries quickly. But other than that I love it and also it feels like it leaves a great base to put your makeup on, not greasy and absorbs quickly. 

Lacura Compact Powder in 10 Transparent by Aldi

Yet again another supermarket brand beauty item, I'm loving them! I picked this up quite a while ago just because it was cheap and I wanted to see how it compared to other powders. I didn't really use it for a long time and I've recently rediscovered it. It's great to use on a day you don't want to wear foundation which has been a lot this summer as it's been so hot. I put on concealer and then just set it with this, and it's really been working for me. It does need topping up throughout the day but I would say it lasts about 4 hours which is good for a cheap supermarket brand. 

e.l.f blush in Peachy Keen

This is quite new to ma as you know but I have been using this almost everyday since I bought it, it gives a lovely subtle colour to your cheeks with a slight shimmer, it's perfect for an everyday look and just brightens your face a bit.

Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express Smoky Eyes

I have always loved this mascara so I just thought it deserved a place in my favourites as really it's an all time favourite! Just an all round great mascara that gives volume and length to your lashes effortlessly.

Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Black

I use this almost everyday, it adds a perfect outline to your eye without being to over the top, it's so easy to apply and really make your eyes pop. It lasts amazingly without budging until you physically take it off. Just brilliant. 

So there you go! My first monthly favourites, I hope you enjoyed my post and don't forget to pop over to my Bloglovin' and follow my blog for updates. 

Also I'd like to wish a HUGE happy birthday to my best friend Grace, she turned 17 today and I hope she's had the most amazing day! <3

  

Maybelline Eyeliners

BE CONFIDENT. ACCEPT YOURSELF. If you cant accept who you are, then who can? 

I was in Boots a while ago and I was looking at the Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner 24hr (which I have been lusting over for a while now), after seeing it in a few of Tanya Burr's makeup tutorials/videos I decided it MUST be worth buying, and oh golly I was not disappointed! It comes in a little glass pot, so cute, and along with a perfect brush. Now just to point out, this isn't any old cheapo, crappy brush, I mean it's really good! It's soft and just the right size, it's easy to control and picks up the perfect amount of product. I absolutely love love love this eyeliner, I can't put into words how amazing it is, it can look so natural and effortless, but can also dramatically enhance your eyes and make them pop. I literally have nothing bad to say about this product however! I will warn you when I first opened the pot I thought, Oh you don't get much do you? buuuuut a little goes a long way and you really don't need much. And just another thing to top of the mountain of praise this baby is getting, it lasts forever! and I mean forever, it won't come off until you take it off and even then its a little tricky to budge (in a good way). 

I've had this about 3 weeks now and I've worn it practically everyday. Hardly a dent! 

Anyway enough rambling about that one and onto the next eyeliner I got, Maybelline were having a good day! So there was an offer on; buy one get the second half price. Now who's to blame for taking advantage of that? I've been looking for a new liquid eyeliner for a while and I am absolutely crap at the original ones, so when these felt pen style liners came out it was a god send. I initially bought the Collection 2000 (when it had the '2000') Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner as it was so cheap and did the job really well, I even repurchased it when my first one ran out. However I was looking to try out a different brand and see the difference so I thought it was a perfect opportunity; Maybelline master precise liquid eyeliner ultra fine tip. I have to say I think the only difference is the Maybelline version has a better pigment and a finer point (0.4mm) as it designed to have. This allows for a lot more precision and control, which I love! This also has great staying power and really defines your eyes, giving you freedom to create cat flicks or winged effects or even a thicker line. 

To compare these to eyeliners I would say that the gel one is more of a daytime liner giving subtle definition whereas the liquid liner allows you to really go for it and make your eyes stand out. They are both really amazing and I would definitely recommend these and repurchase them. Maybelline, I salute you. You know your eyeliners.

Top- master precise liquid eyeliner
Bottom- lasting drama gel eyeliner

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Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation and Garnier Moisture Match Revitalising Hydrating Gel

I have no idea why it has taken me so long to blog about this but I guess it's better late than never. 
Firstly for the foundation;
I had heard so many good reviews about this and my friend told me she thought it was really good to, so I went ahead and bought it as I was looking for a new foundation at the time. I was really impressed with this foundation and really like it, it's got good coverage that I would describe as medium, it also has SPF 18 in it which appealed to me more as it makes protecting your face from the harmful rays so much easier. I love the packaging and the glass bottle makes it look so much more sleek. It says that it lasts all day which I wouldn't agree with, I think it last around 4-5 hours on my skin which isn't amazing, however if I invested in a good primer I think it may stay a bit longer. Also I think I picked up a shade slightly to dark for me, but hopefully with this nice weather around I'll be able to get a bit browner and match it up (fingers crossed). 

On to the gel moisturiser:
I recieved 2 samples of these new moisture match range in July's Company magazine and was chuffed because I had wanted to try them but wasn't sure which one to go for. I had the Wake Me Up one for dull skin and the mattifying one for combination to oily skin, I tried both and decided that the Wake Me Up was more suited to me and went out and bought it. I really like using this moisturiser as its a gel and feels really light on the skin, it absorbs really quickly and refreshes your face. It really does wake up your skin and make it feel revitalised and hydrated just what it says on the tin. Also for a bonus it smells lush!

Sorry I haven't blogged for so long I really need to slap myself on the wrists and make more time for this blog. I will see you soon! 

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