NEW! The Falsies Push Up Mascara

I've had quite a few Maybelline mascaras and always liked them so when I saw they had a new one out it piqued my interest.

And while me and my mum were out shopping one day she bought me one because she's a sweetie and it was buy one get one half price so we both had one!

The Maybelline The Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara* claims to give dramatic lift to the lashes for a pushed up effect. The brush has cup shaped bristles which scoops and lifts lashes and the formula itself delivers instant volume and holds the lift in place. 

I have to disagree with the claims here, I can't say I noticed any extra curl or lift to my lashes and the volume is pretty non-existent. My lashes are naturally long (lucky me!) so volumising mascaras is really where it's at for me but they do mascaras that are a lot better for volume than this one (the Rocket, Colossal, and the original Falsies all spring to mind). I find the brush holds too much product and while the plastic bristle brush is really good for getting right into the root of the lashes for separation it leaves clumps of mascara in my eyelashes which is not a good look! I've tried to persevere to see if it gets better in time (like the Lash Sensational mascara seems to do) but for me it's just getting worse and leaving more and more clumps to the point where I'm probably going to bin it (and I'm a make up collector, its rare I bin something I've not used up!).

I always find mascaras to be very much a personal thing in that I might love one and the next person might hate it so it's something to bear in mind but for me this one just doesn't cut it!

Have you tried this mascara?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

* I've given this a * as I didn't pay for this mascara my mum bought it for me awww! 

   

My Funny Valentine

I hope you don't mind a different kind of post from me today. I thought I'd share my romantic Valentines day...... Just the three of us!

It was a lovely, sunny but cold day so we decided to make use of our year ticket to Trentham Gardens for a romantic walk. As you can see from the picture above Splodge loved the fountains (that's what he's trying to point at in two of the photos!). Yes, my earmuffs look silly but I get terrible ear ache when it's cold, anyone else have that problem?

Considering we weren't supposed to have been bothering with Valentines day, my hubby got me these really cool card flowers (pictured below). They'll last a lot longer than the real thing! 

And my lovely toddler baby got me this really cute necklace. His daddy told me that some of the money from the necklace went to the Cats Protection League charity. How thoughtful! 

For tea we ordered indian food and my lovely hubby made us cherry pies. Splodge looked like something from a horror film by the time he'd finished his!

Valentines day for us is a lot different than what it used to be (pre-Splodge) but I wouldn't change it for the world!

Did you do anything for Valentine day?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

P.S. Splodge pointing at things reminds me of the family guy evil closet monkey!

www.statemaster.com

Worth The Hype? Mac Velvet Teddy Lipstick

MAC Matte Lipstick in the shade Velvet Teddy is harked on about so much, but is it for good reason? 

A while ago I was on the hunt for a really nice nude shade lipstick, I scoured the usual drugstore/high street make up stands but nothing seemed to really hit the mark. A couple of my work colleagues had been sporting really nice shades of nude lipstick and of course when I asked them both what lippie they had on, they both piped up "It's Velvet Teddy." Regardless, I tried to find a budget friendly version but found that the shades were too pinky coloured or too pale and so decided to take the plunge and buy the damn thing.

For the most part, I do think Velvet Teddy is worth the hype, it is in my opinion the perfect nude shade and it suits so many different skin tones. The ladies I saw it on both fake tan regularly and I wondered if it would look nice on my pale skin but when I walked into work wearing it one of them asked what lipstick it was I wearing because it looked nice. Winner! 

The actual formula is really creamy for a matte lipstick and it applies really smoothly. The wear time for this lipstick is pretty impressive too, considering it's not particularly marketed purposely for long wear I do find I only have to re apply a couple of times a day (usually after I've eaten) and while it does transfer onto cups etc the colour still remains after I've swigged my brew.

It's not without it's flaws though and being a matte lipstick it does dry my lips out and clings to dry, flaky parts. Unfortunately my lips are prone to being dry pretty much all year round but if that's not an issue for you, well, lucky you and this won't be such a problem for you. The second problem I have with this lipstick is the price, at £15.50 it is on the pricey side for me and one of very few high end make up items I own.

There has however been a surge in high street/drugstore brands bringing out new nude shades and I'm hoping I can find a cheaper alternative!

MAC Velvet Teddy Lipstick is available HERE or from your nearest MAC counter.

What's your favourite nude lipstick?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

Worth The Hype? Maybelline Eraser Concealer

If you read a lot of beauty blogs then you'll know just how much this one has done the rounds. So I'm here asking the question again, is Maybelline Eraser Concealer worth the hype?

The short answer is no. I do however urge to to hear the long answer as to why! First off is the colour and this is the main reason why I've given this a thumbs down. I find the colour to be too dark for my funny pale face and although I can just about get away with this under my eyes which is its intended purpose, but only when very well blended in I would prefer it if there was a lighter shade. There are only 2 shades (that I've ever seen anyway) and they're Light and Nude (Light is the one I have).  

Next is the weird applicator thingy (I really don't know what you'd call it?). It's a weird sponge thing that the product is squeezed through but it doesn't work as a sponge to apply the product with as you need to blend it in afterwards. In fact I think all it does is waste product, because the sponge just absorbs it all. Which brings me to the hygiene issue, as it's all sat festering in the sponge, a nice, moist area for bacteria. Yum. However that doesn't really bother me too much, I'm the only one who uses it, there's bacteria everywhere, and as a friend of mine says, a bit of muck does you good. 

I've saved the best til last, and it really is the best bit. The formula of this is really nice, not thick and cakey, and not so thin that it covers nothing or just sits in the lines around my eyes (yes, I'm getting old *weeps*). As I mentioned previously, I can use this under my eyes so it will get used and that is its intended purpose but for me it's too dark to use anywhere else on my face which is a shame because the coverage is nice and could possibly be used on red areas of the face or even the odd little spot. Alas, I'll never know!

So if your skin tone is deeper than mine then this could be worth the hype it gets but unless they started doing a lighter shade, it's a thumbs down from me.

Maybelline Eraser Concealer is available HERE or from your local Boots or Superdrug.   

Have you tried this concealer? What did you think?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

My All Time Favourite Perfume!

I'll set the scene, your shopping for a new perfume, you've sprayed various testers up and down your arms and your looking for another space to spray yet another. And then you smell it. You instantly fall in love with it. It's you in a bottle.

For me, that's exactly what happened when I smelt Givenchy Very Irresistible for the first time. So much so, it's the fragrance I wore whenever I was meeting up with my now husband in the early days, I sprayed it on my bed sheets when he first came over and I even wore it on my wedding day.

When it comes to fragrance I chop and change so often and I have a staggering collection of perfumes I could probably open a shop (I blame my job for this!) so for me to repurchase a perfume is a rarity and yet it's happened a fair few times with this one. I think I first discovered it when I was about 16 and I still love it today. I recently bought a new bottle having not smelt it since before I was pregnant. Pregnancy changed my sense of smell and my preferences have changed since I had my son and I still love it. It's definitely stood the test of time for me! 

I'm not going to embarrass myself by trying to describe the scent but the write up for the fragrance says that it's made from an alliance of 5 types of roses with top notes of star anise and verbena leaf, heart notes of centifolia and peony rose and base notes of passion, fantasia, and emotion rose. It all sounds very rosy but take it from someone who hates that synthetic, old fashioned rose scent that's in just about everything rose scented, there's not a whiff that here. That probably doesn't help describe the scent and fragrance write ups tend to be mumbo jumbo so all I can say is next time you get an opportunity give it a sniff.

Sense of smell is so subjective and what one person hates another person might love so my advice for choosing perfume is not to be put off if someone says they don't like one that you do. After all your the one who has to smell it and wear it and you tend to find that perfume smells different on different people so always try and test it on your skin. The opposite is true too, if you smell something amazing on someone else be sure to try before you buy as you might find it's not as nice on you as it was on that person. 

Givenchy Very Irresistible (£38 for 30ml) can be purchased HERE  

What's your favourite perfume?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

     

NEW Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation

I like shiny new things and when I saw this new arrival in the drawers at work just as I was thinking that I needed a new foundation I decided it must be fate.

Okay, calling it fate is perhaps a bit dramatic but it was on offer so I decided to give it a go. I've only tried Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation a few times so today I thought I'd you a first impressions post and then I can perhaps revisit this in more detail down the line.

First point I want to mention is the colour. In the past, the lightest Maybelline foundation shade has been "Ivory" and I've always found the shade to be slightly orangey even though it's a pale colour. I'm glad to say they've done a shade lighter, it's the one I have here and it's 01 Natural which matches my super paleness quite nicely. The picture below shows the colour and consistency (not amazingly well I know!) and despite it looking an awful colour match on my hand it is for my face trust me! 

The next point is the application, I first used a flat top foundation brush as this is how I usually apply my foundation and I hated how it went on. The next day I just used my fingers and I found it to be so much better.   

Finally, the foundation itself is a liquid but has an almost light, mousse consistency (but not as thick as the actual Dream Matte Mousse). It goes on nice and smooth, doesn't feel heavy and for a matte foundation it didn't feel like it was going to dry out my skin, or cling to any dry patches that I already had. The finish is matte, but it's not super matte and I'd say it was medium coverage. It gave my skin a soft, even appearance that still looks like skin and not that "foundation face" look where it's obvious you've got a made up face. 

My first impressions of Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation are pretty good. I feel like I'm going to get along with this one and it's going to be perfect for everyday wear. Time will certainly tell and I will let you know if I still feel this way as time goes on!

You can get yours HERE or at your local Boots or Superdrug.

What's your favourite foundation?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

P.S I posted this accidentally earlier in the week, I wanted to add a little more so I apologise if you caught it earlier and wonder where it went!

The SHOCKING Truth About Social Media

Have you ever scrolled through your social media pages and found yourself looking at someones pictures or status updates and thinking "Wow, don't they have the perfect life?" 

Not to mention the pangs of jealous and feelings of emptiness that go hand in hand with comparing yourself to others. I'll be honest, I've seen some amazing pictures of what friends have been up to and it's made me feel jealous. And I've sat there myself and thought "You have the most amazing life."  

Well I have some SHOCKING news for you. Chances are they don't. The thing about social media is that people only share their highlights, would you share on Facebook that you've just had a blazing row with your boyfriend? Probably not. Would you Instagram a picture of the flowers he bought you afterwards to say sorry? Yeah, you might do but would you say it's because you've made up after a fight? Probably not. You see what I did there? There are plenty of blanks that are not filled in when it comes to what people share online and therefore comparing your life to someone's on social media is pointless because all you get is the highlights, not the whole episode. 

Have a think about who you have on your social sites, friends, relatives, your ex and your mum maybe!? And with those kind of people viewing status updates and photos your definitely going to get a censored and abridged version of someones life. You want to look cool in front of your mates, like you've moved on in front of an ex and like butter wouldn't melt in front of your mum. In which case your not going to mention you were blazing drunk, crying over your ex and puffing on a ciggie the night before!

Nobody (or at least most people!) aren't going to air their dirty laundry for all to see on the internet so just bear in mind when you see the photos and the status's of other people that it might be all smiles and sunshine but they have shit to deal with in their personal life, just like you, and just like everybody else.

Nobody is perfect, and perfection is an imperfection anyway.

Perhaps not as SHOCKING as I made out this to be but it's easy to be misled online, just like the misleading title of this post!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x   

  

Superdrug's Naturally Radiant Hot Cloth Cleanser

I've tried a few hot cloth cleansers now and I do like them for how effective they are at dissolving make up and how quickly they do their job but I will admit their not my favourite method of make up removal. I find muslin cloths to be too scratchy so I swap them for a bog standard flannel and even then I find the constant washing of flannels a chore. After a single use I find any kind of cloth I use looks mucky, even after rinsing afterwards, useless of course you have the time to scrub at it after which is just time consuming.

However, I've used the Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser before and found it to be really good so I thought I'd give the Naturally Radiant Hot Cloth Cleanser a go too. This one claims to awaken skins natural glow and contains kiwi and mulberry extracts to help soften skin. It comes in a squeezy green tube and comes out as a thick white cream which you then massage into dry skin before wiping off with the muslin cloth that comes with it (or whatever you prefer if you'd rather forego the muslin cloth). 

 Packaging wise, I do prefer a squeezy tube as I feel you can get every bit of product out of there (especially if you cut the bottom off, which you can't do with other style packaging) one downside to the tube is that if you have this out on the side in the shower water can get inside the lid which then goes cold and gives you quite the shock when you tip it up next! (Luckily, I'm more of a bath kind of person!)

A few things to note, I don't like the smell of this stuff. It has an odd fruity smell that's hard to explain, but if your ever in a Superdrug smell something from the range and let me know what you think. It failed to remove my very waterproof Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara (which I spoke about HERE), I had to get rid of the panda eyes with a separate make up remover. It also claims to awakens skins natural glow but I haven't seen a difference in my skin, although perhaps all the sleepless nights with my little boy means my skin actually doesn't have a "natural glow" at all!

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Hot Cloth Cleanser (£5.99 and also currently buy one get one free) is available HERE or in store.

Have you ever used a hot cloth cleanser?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x