L'Oréal False Lash Superstar

 After 3 visits to the pc repair shop, I now seem to be back in the land of blogging & all is well *touches wood!*

So, back to normality & here I have a new mascara for you.  You know I'm a complete mascara addict so couldn't resist this one when it was on offer in Superdrug, L'Oréal False Lash Superstar.  It's now full price at £10.99 but is on 3 for 2.

This is a two-step mascara, something I've not really got on with in the past & I only tried it because it's by L'Oréal, but I have to tell you, I'll not be rushing out to repurchase it!  Unfortunately, this is the first L'Oréal mascara I've not liked & I'm really quite shocked!  I love the brushes & there's absolutely no dispute in that it gives phenomenal lashes, but my god, does it smudge!  It's also a bit reminiscent of Benefit They're Real in that it's a bit of a sod to remove without seriously scrubbing your lashes - and we don't want to do that, thank you very much!

The first step uses an hourglass shaped brush & is a white thickening lash primer.  I applied this & then after leaving it to dry slightly, applied the second step fibre rich formula with the curved brush & the photos show just one coat of each.  I absolutely loved the immediate volumising effect, it was just a few hours later that I became disappointed.

I don't know if it's because I have oilier eyelids or something but after 3 or 4 hours of wear, it was all over them & smudged underneath my eyes, not good IMO.  As I said, I've never had this trouble with L'Oréal mascaras before & their False Lash Telescopic is my HG mascara but this one just didn't float my boat I'm afraid.  I'd only bother using it if I was going out for 2 or 3 hours & wanted some va-va-voom on my lashes, rather than an all-day mascara.

What do you think, have you tried this one?

Benefit ~ Roller Lash Super-curling & Lifting mascara

Unless you've been living under a rock these past few weeks, you will/may have noticed the huge amount of press for the newest release from Benefit, the 'super-curling & lifting' Roller Lash mascara.  This is not yet available to buy but you can however, grab a freebie mini version with the March edition of Elle magazine right now!

Now, I wasn't overly impressed by the blogger favourite They're Real mascara by Benefit (read my post here) so I was pleasantly surprised to find I much prefer this one.  The plastic curved wand is styled on velcro rollers with tiny wee hooks that grab, lift & curl the lashes.  I can't comment on the curling effect as my lashes are naturally curled but I will agree that the brush grabs & lifts the lashes with ease.

Unlike the They're Real wand though, the bristles aren't sharp & spiky so it's very comfortable to use & although the formula is quite wet, it's very light-weight & doesn't spread all over the eyelid - result!  It visibly lengthened my lashes but didn't offer a huge deal of volume as you'll see by the following photos but it is super-black.  I've taken shots before, with one coat & with 2 coats so you can see the difference for yourselves!

The burning question is, would I buy the full-sized version when it's released?  To be honest, probably not which is bizarre seeing as I think it's a pretty darned great mascara.  I think someone with straighter lashes would benefit (sorry!!) more from this as I can get the same results from a mascara half the price (L'Oréal False Lash Telescopic, in case you're wondering!)  I will say though that the formula does last 12 hours as it promises, it doesn't flake or smudge & hoo-bloody-ray, it removes very easily, which was my biggest bugbear with They're Real!

Roller Lash will launch in March & will cost £19.50.  Will you be trying it?

  

Review ~ L'Oréal False Lash Flutter mascara

I realised that seeing as I have a drawer full of mascaras, I should really be reviewing them.  The leading brand for me has always been L'Oréal, I think they've really nailed their mascara formulas.  It's no secret that the False Lash Telescopic is my all time favourite but this is pretty darned excellent too!

It has a plastic wand that is 'wing' shaped to help lift & lengthen your lashes.  It works beautifully on the top lashes although is a little more difficult to use on the bottom ones, it's takes a bit of getting used to!  But once you do, it's fabulous.  I've tried to photograph it as well as possible to show the shape of the wand but it wasn't easy!

As you can see from the before & after photos, it really does lengthen the lashes & as with all the L'Oréal formulas that I've tried (most of them!), it doesn't flake, smudge or run & removes easily.  Like the Miss Manga mascara, it works best when it's been opened for a week or so to help thicken the formula slightly.

Not bad......just look past the late-night reading sessions dark circles please!!

What's your favourite mascara?

Makeup essentials for Marrakech

Makeup for Marrakech by fortytherapy 


So, as promised, here's what I intend to take in my (small!) makeup bag to Marrakech.  I'm only going for 4 days, it'll (hopefully) be hot & we intend to do lots of walking about & sightseeing so plastering my face in makeup will not be high on my agenda!  I'll only need the bare minimum of products & these few tried, tested & loved beauties will do the trick quite nicely thank you.

1. Cath Kidston cosmetic bag 
Pretty self-explanatory, a decent sized makeup bag in a wipeable oil-cloth.  Large enough to pack everything into but small enough to not take up too much room.

2.  Ambre Solaire Lip protector spf 20
I won't bother wearing coloured lipstick in the daytime but I know from past experience that sunburnt lips are not nice so I'll slick some of this on to protect them.

3.  Ambre solaire BB cream spf 30
Now this is the only thing on this list that I haven't tried yet so I'll get some & try it before I go to make sure my skin doesn't react to it.  This offers a good spf & being a BB cream aswell, it'll offer some colour to my face so as not to frighten the locals too much!!

4.  Bourjois BB bronzing cream
I bought this for the first time last year as soon as it was released & got through 2 bottles during summer alone! It's great on it's own to give a lovely sunkissed (not tangoed!) look but I also mix it with my foundation when my skin gets tanned so I don't have to buy darker ones!  I'll pop a few pumps of this into a little travel-sized pot so I don't have to take the whole bottle - a little goes a looong way!

5.  Sleek blusher in Sahara
I bought this beauty the other day & so far, am loving it.  It's so pigmented that a little goes a long way but offers a beautiful warm glow to your cheeks.  Ideal for when your face has a hint of a tan.  The only downside to taking this is that I'll have to also take a blusher brush.....

6.  Real Techniques blusher brush
Another fabulous offering from RT, the only blusher brush I use now.  I'm looking forward though to seeing what the new travel sized brushes are like when they get released as a smaller brush would be handier for travelling.

7.  L'Oréal False Lash Telescopic mascara
This, my friends, is my HG mascara & the one I go back time & time again.  L'Oréal have really nailed perfect mascaras & this is my favourite of the bunch.  I will tint my lashes before I go away though as I don't like wearing waterproof mascaras & don't want to resemble Alice Cooper when I use the pool!

8.  Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeshadow pencil in Tempting Turquoise
I've blogged about this Rimmel eyeshadow pencil before here & although I don't often wear it, it'll be perfect for a splash of colour.  It's the perfect formula too being waterproof as it won't disappear in the heat.

9.  Rimmel Scandaleyes kohl in Bronze
Bronze colours really make my green eyes stand out so this'll also be a good addition for nighttime looks.  Again, it's waterproof formula means it won't slide down my face if it's hot!

10.  Revlon lip butter in Candy Apple
Yet another product I've already blogged about & although it was nearly a year ago, I'm still as in love with this lip butter as ever!  It's the perfect bright colour that'll go with the tiny amount of clothes I intend taking & the moisturising formula is spot on!

11.  Boots No7 BB lip balm
First off, why is in not possible to clip items to Polyvore from the Boots website, it drives me mental?!  It took me 15 minutes of faffing around online to manage to get it on there......I digress.....
I bought one of these when Boots were handing out their £3 off vouchers.  It's a great nude colour, lasts well, isn't at all sticky, is hydrating & offers spf 15 - a makeup essential for me from now on!

12.  Elizabeth Arden Eight-Hour cream
Most people I know have a tube of this & I've been using it for around 12 years now.  I tend to buy the smaller sized tubes & always keep one in my bag.  It's a fabulous intensive lip balm & hydrates cuticles like nothing else.  I also sometimes add the merest slick to the tops of my cheekbones for that glowy/healthy-skinned effect!  Again, I'll pop some into a wee pot to save on space.

So there we have it, my minimal makeup essentials I'll be taking away with me.  I will of course do another post with my essential toiletries too!  If you want to click on the picture, it should take you to my Polyvore page where you'll find the links for the products.

Now, is there anything I've missed?!

Review ~ L'Oréal Mega Volume Miss Manga mascara

Yep, I'm just going to call it Miss Manga or MM from now on, it's too much of a mouthful otherwise!!  Anyhoo, my beloved L'Oréal False Lash Telescopic mascara was coming to an end so I thought I'd be brave & try a new one.  I get this strange urge every few months & I don't really know why I bother because nothing ever comes close to the Telescopic mascara (nope, not even the much-blogged about & loved They're Real by Benefit!) but Superdrug had an offer on where you could buy this mascara & an eyeliner for a tenner so being the bargain hunter that I am, I thought, why the hell not!!

Now, I have to admit that the first few times I used this, I hated it with a passion - sorry L'Oréal!!  I found it difficult getting used to a bristle wand again rather than the plastic ones I've grown to love & although it's supposed to be a flexible wand, there's flexible & then there's this ridiculously springy MM wand!!  I couldn't get it to grip my lashes properly as any pressure just serves to bend the wand too much & then, yup, it's all over your eyelid again!  Racoon look anyone?  Nope, thought not.......

  Also, the formula was far too wet for my liking & I resembled some sort of weird Alice Cooper tribute act with it smeared all over my eyelids & under my eyes.....no, no, no, not good at all.  So it was swiftly relegated to the 'dammit-it's-no-good' drawer but....... I left it for a fortnight & tried it again.  In those couple of weeks since it had been opened, the formula had thickened up & was like a totally different product all together.  I have to say, I've grown to adore this mascara & have even mastered the spring-board wand too, whoop whoop!!

It's a proper jet black mascara & yes, it does offer volume & length, it doesn't flake or smudge & removes easily with no stinging or panda eyes the following morning - exactly what I want from a mascara!!  Granted, I still sometimes have to do a wee clean-up with a cotton bud but I think the results speak for themselves!!

So my advice to anyone looking to buy this mascara would be, if at first you don't succeed, leave it a fortnight & try again, chances are, you'll love it!!