Top Tip #26

Beauty Bites

#26. Panda Eyes or 'mascara eyes' as I like to call it are for me a frequent occurrence and a right pain the butt. The phenomena is generally caused by excess oils in the eye area. These oils are naturally produced by your skin, however the use of heavy creams near your eyes can add to the problem. The moisture left behind by heavy creams/foundations/concealers leaves a nice slick surface causing your makeup to slide.

Leave your heavy eye creams for night time use and invest in a light weight gel for the day.

Apply a primer to the lids to keep oil at bay and mascara in place.

It helps to apply a little powder under the eyes for extra staying power.

再见 Panda Eyes!

(That's goodbye in Chinese :) )

Rant or Rave?

A new lick of paint

Hourglass Film Noir Lacquer Review

Hot on the heels of meye (geddit!) last mascara themed post is a review of Hourglass' Film Noir Lash Lacquer.

Hourglass is relatively new to the UK but is fast becoming my brand of choice, I am slowly but surely working my way through their whole line and no complaints thus far! 

The lacquer looks a lot like a lipgloss for the lashes (try saying that fast!). First off points for innovation, I have not come across anything else remotely like this on the market. 

It is meant to work as a top coat for your mascara, adding length, volume and shine.

The brush does take quite a bit of getting used to. I find the best way to apply it is to brush the lashes up and down whilst blinking my lashes, but each to their own. It is designed to be worn on top of mascara and the formula is specifically designed to be clump free.

I have road tested this a few times and not a clump in sight! It adds a whole another dimension to your standard mascara look. Glossy, inky, wetlook. To me it conjures up an image of black squid ink, someone watches wayyy too many cooking programmes! Or maybe wetlook leggings for your lashes?

Now whilst this is not something you need for a day to day basis, for those night outs it can take you look to the next level. It fans out each individual lash to sensational proportions, colours them a deep dark black, and pumps up the volume. A great little product to keep in your 'work' makeup bag for an instant day to night transformation.

Not for the light hearted this lacquer really packs a punch.

The left eye has just mascara, the right mascara and lacquer

I cannot lap up this latex enough

Relatively easy to use, smudge and clump free, false lash effect without the spider leg feeling, really what else could you ask for?

Lets do some makeup maths. Dior's serum + Hourglass' Lacquer = SHOWSTOPPING peepers

Hourglass Lash Lacquer is available for £25 from Space NK

Lashings and Lashings of Lashes

Step Five

Hey guys! Sorry there has been a bit of a break in my five minute face posts. But here is the last one. And I am kinda cheating as I'm throwing in mascara and eyeliner into one post, hope you don't mind!

Whilst I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for when it comes to makeup and am willing to spend sometimes painful amounts on my base products I think drugstore brands offer some really great options for the eyes, lips and nails.

Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion £11.99

They Say: False Lash Effect Fusion combines Max Factor’s biggest ever volumising brush with its latest lengthening formula to create thicker and longer lashes. For those girls who want an extreme lash look, they’ve come to the right place.

I Say: All mascaras claims to lengthen and thicken your lashes so when brands act like they've discovered this ingenious way of doing it it's kinda a moot point, as surely that's the point of a mascara?! Anyhoo I believe this is one of the best mid-range mascaras on the market.

The brush is relatively standard, it is not one of the new crazy shapes out at the moment. I don't know if I apply my mascara in a weird way but I tend flutter the brush up and down as I blink into my lashes (How do other people apply theirs?) 

For a daytime look one coat of this mascara is enough and your good to go. It really separate the lashes so there is no need to go over them with a lash comb. There is no clumping, a feat which most drugstore mascaras cannot achieve, the lashes do look longer, fuller and more volumised.

Note: When going out I love the false lash effect but hate wearing false eyelashes it feels like having a spider sitting in my eye socket eurgh. This mascara is great for applying numerous coats, and by numerous I mean I can sit in front of the mirror for half an hour applying mascara over and over and over again, for some reason I find it really therapeutic, just me? The lashes can handle the excessive coatings without clumping together into fat bunches of lashes, if you know what I mean? 

I have yet to find a mid-range mascara to beat this one, what do you think? Have you used this before? What is your go to mascara?

Next up: Bourjois Effet Smoky Sparkling Pencil £5.49

I been lusting over brown eyeliners for a while now. I think they offer a nice alternative to black for a more casual day time look as well as lending to a sexy sultry smoky eye.

I had my eye on Mac's Teddy but considering my job description at the moment stands at unpaid intern the £14 price tag seemed a little hefty. 

So off I went into Boots to see what the high street could offer me. I tried out pretty much every single eyeliner in store and they were all so hard and pointy I imagined using them would feel like I was sticking pins in my eyes. 

The Bourjois one really surprised me. 

They Say: Dress to impress with Bourjois' double-tipped eyeliner to smudge for a smoky and sparkly look! Its soft, easy-to-blend tip glides along the lashline for an intense outline in one stroke. Its ultra soft brush made of natural bristles perfectly smudges the formula. The result: a subtle but incredibly sexy and smoky sparkly look in just 2 steps!

And it's good for my eyes:

- High tolerance formula

- Tested on sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers

- Enriched with natural waxes and vitamin E & C*.

*Vitamine derivatives.

I Say: It is so so soft, it glides on really well, is really pigmented so you only need one layer and the colour has a lot of depth. Most of the other browns I looked at were just one dimensional colours which looked quite boring. This one has a slight bronze undertone and very very small sparkles which really make the colour something special.

I close my eyes pull the outer corner slightly and run the pencil along my upper lashline and in the gap, so it applies onto my lower lash line aswell.

The pencil comes with a nifty little smudger. The brush is really soft and is great for using along the water line for those come to bed eyes.

Although the colour contains glitter it isn't that noticeable when on the eyes so this is my current go to eyeliner for the daytime. It doesn't last on my water line the whole day but you do get a good 4-5 hours wear.

I can't comment on the vitamins included, it doesn't irritate my eyes but then my eyes are not particularly sensitive and I am not a contact lens wearer.

One thing to note about the eyeliner it does seem to go blunt after only a few applications, so I am working my way through the pencil quite quickly.

But then for that price tag I'd be happy repurchasing!

And here is my finished five minute face :)

What are your go to products for a quick and easy look?