Maybelline Color Drama Velvet Lip Pencils

Hello internet! I have some more make up musings for you today in the form of Maybelline Velvet Lip Pencils.

You know when you find something that you love so much you have to have more? This is what has happened to me with these beauties! I have totally fell in love with the formula of these lip crayons and now I own 5 of them. So let me tell you about them.

The formula of these are lovely and creamy, they apply really smoothly and the pencil format of them means its really easy to outline your lips and fill them in quite precisely (which is great in particularly for the bolder colours). I wouldn't go as far as to say they are like lipliner because they're too thick for that but it does make application a bit easier. 

Once applied I wouldn't say they were completely matte, more of a satin, velvet like finish (as the name suggests, duh!) I really like this finish as completely matte lipsticks tend to be very drying where these are only slightly drying on your lips but have the full staying power of a matte lipstick. When I wear these for work they stay put and don't slide around all over my face (definitely a no-no when working with the general public face to face) and I only touch up on my break after eating and that's more out of habit than necessity. 

The five colours I have are Keep it Classy, Berry Much, Minimalist, Nude Perfection, and Red Essential. My favourite of the bunch has to be Keep It Classy which is the first one I got, it's the perfect balance of bold colour but is also a wearable, everyday colour for me making it a staple in my handbag.

Maybelline Color Drama Lip Pencil in Keep It Classy on the lips

I'm not sure if 5 is enough of these!

What's your favourite of the bunch?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

I SPIED!

I spy with my little eye something beginning with N Y X!

Photo Source Boots.com

Okay, that was rubbish but cosmetic brand NYX is coming to Boots online! I'm probably the last one to hear about it but it got me excited as I've had a few things from the brand and when I went to my local Next to pick up some more they informed me they stopped doing it and all hope was lost (maybe a little dramatic, but I was gutted!) There's no date for it's launch but click HERE to join the waiting list for the new Liquid Suede Lipsticks, there's limited stock!  

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

Photo source Superdrug.com

My favourite offer of the year is now on at Superdrug! It's currently 3 for 2 mix and match across all make up, nails and false lashes. Shop online HERE or at your local store, exciting stuff huh?!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

Freebie Friday! #12

Freebie time again! The beauty mags have got some good freebies this month so without further ado here we go!

Marie Claire is giving its readers a free L'occitane Hand Cream (worth £8), this is one I picked up myself and got the zesty lime scented one, lovely! 

Elle is giving its readers a free Orly Nail Polish (worth £10.50)

Glamour is giving its readers a free Nails Inc Nail Polish (worth £11)

InStyle is giving its readers a free Ren Skincare Set (worth £14)

I know it's not exactly free, but it's a lot less than buying the product the full price. Tesco also has some special offers on their magazines, InStyle is reduced from £3.99 to £2.50! There's only a couple of weeks left on these so be quick! 

Thanks for reading,

Wench x 

Slimming World! #5

I put a sticky label over my name because they always spell it wrong! It looks like I stole my certificate!

I got my stone award from Slimming World!

I'm so pleased! Goodbye baby weight (and the little extra I accumulated myself.....ahem!) it's slow and steady weight loss and although in the past I've lost weight quite dramatically and quickly it's not healthy and generally unsustainable. Slow and steady wins the race and it's also more likely to stay off too! My work trousers are loose and its quite annoying actually because I'm skint and can't buy anymore yet! 

I know I say it a lot but I'm shocked I lost anything this week, with the baby Splodge at Gran's house for the weekend we had a Tesco takeaway!

It was also taster week and people brought lots of yummy sweet treats which I'm going to have to give a try at home so I will show you how I go on!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x   

Garnier Micellar Water

Micellar water has soared in popularity, particularly now that there are more affordable brands and choices available. 

But what is micellar water? I get asked this a lot and it basically removes make up, dirt, oil and cleanses the skin without having to rinse, ideal for when you can't get to water to wash your face properly! The name comes from the "micelles" which are tiny cleansing balls that float in the water and when they come into contact with make up, dirt, oil etc it can all be wiped away. Pretty cool right?

 Before I carry on though, I do feel there are many misconceptions around micellar water, they were designed to be used where water isn't available and are not a substitute for washing your face properly! I keep seeing them described as a "gentle" way of removing make up or as having no chemicals, or fragrance, or soap, or whatever other vague terms they can think of but actually, although it's micellar WATER and WATER sounds all lovely and natural and gentle and the like the fact is they do have chemicals in, how else is it going to get rid of make up etc? The idea is to use them when you can't wash your face properly, not as a regular thing. At the end of the day the best thing you can do for your face is wash it properly!

Now I've had my little rant you may notice my bottle of Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water is actually empty! I find it really useful to take off make up when the baby is asleep and I don't want to wake him filling the sink up and prattling around the bathroom, or I can sit and do it in my living room so I keep an eye on him (or when he starts going crazy when I leave the room, he's at that age now) or when I'm just feeling plain lazy! I got mine on offer for around £3 (RRP £4.99) and you get 400ml of product which I think is pretty generous as other ones tend to be about half that for a similar price point. I found it to be effective at removing make up but my only gripe was that it couldn't remove my waterproof Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara (more on that HERE) which is VERY waterproof indeed! It also didn't sting my eyes or skin which I have found can be the case with your standard make up remover.

All in all a thumbs up from me but not in place of a proper cleanser!

Get yours HERE or at your local store.

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

    

Mask Monday! #7

Happy Monday everyone! 

I have a Mask Monday for you today! I picked up this Montagne Jeunesse (do not ask me to pronounce that one!) 7th Heaven Manuka Honey Peel Off mask in Boots last time I was in there and this morning I put it to the test! 

First things first and I actually found this really easy to open! You may be thinking I've become a 90 year old woman but fear not, I always find sachets of things really god damn hard to open with wet hands in the bath! Next it smells divine, like a nice, sweet, honey smell (believe it or not!) that made me want to eat it! (Not recommended!) and it has a slight yellow colour to it (which I think is expected of a honey scented product). It doesn't sting or tingle, I personally don't mind a little tingle as I feel like a mask is doing something if it tingles but there is a fine line between tingle and sting, and sting is not good but you don't get any of that with this, so I think it would be fine for sensitive skin. It says it's a peel off formula and as you can see from the picture above it does peel off but I'd say there was about 10% of it that I had to wash off. I think it was just in areas where I applied it a little thick but it wasn't difficult to wash off with water and a sponge. 

The mask claims to purify and remove dead skin cells and I do feel like my skin looked brighter and smoother after use so I do agree with those claims. No it doesn't make a radical difference but I just enjoy kicking back in the tub and having a little relax with a mask always makes me feel better. Time is something you need with this mask as it says to leave it on 20-25 minutes, any excuse to take a nice, long bath right!? 

You can pick these up in Boots or other retailers for around the £1.00 mark

Do you have any mask recommendations?

Thanks for reading,

Wench X 

Freebie Friday! #11

I have to say magazine freebies recently have been pants or non existent! 

But I'm glad to say I have an offering for you today, although I'm late to the party this month! Marie Claire are offering its readers a free Balance Me cleanser, hand cream, or face cream. I opted for the cleanser as I've heard good things about it. In a previous magazine freebie I had a face wash from Balance Me and the smell was horrific! I'm hoping the cleanser is better! 

In magazines like these I find there's not an awful lot to read in them, the amount of adverts is just silly but it's worth it for the freebies and you often find smelly perfume pages (there's a Gucci Bamboo in this one!) and other little samples (there's Garnier BB Cream and Elvive Extraordinary Oil Shampoo)

Have you found any good freebies recently?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

Slimming World! #4

SOURCE thehousethatneverrests.com

Just another little update for you!

I lost 1.5 pounds last week which I was really pleased about as I was staying at my parents house while I did my driving course and I was being very well looked after by my mummy! It's tough sticking to plan when someone else is cooking for you (don't get me wrong though, I'm certainly grateful!) but my mummy is very healthy so it was all good. I did have some cheeky pieces of toast while I was out driving!

This week I don't think I'll have lost anything, after failing my test I had a whole pizza to myself as I was sulking! We'll see on weigh in day! 

I have lost a total of 10.5 pounds so far, I'm really chuffed!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x