No7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse 5ml

These eyeshadows are great! the packaging doesn't look very exciting but they are a hidden gem.  My friend was wearing the khaki one day and it looked beautiful so i asked what she was wearing and went and got one myself.  You need only the tiniest little squirt, like 2mm per eyelid and it spreads on easily.  Its so light and no problem for sensitive skin.  It dries in quickly and doesn't crease around the eyelid.  The colours are gorgeous! I now have them all except the fudge brown which I will get sometime soon.  The pewter or vanilla are beautiful natural colours for daytime. they are not flat colour, they are shimmering luminescent shades.  The other colours are more dramatic and would look great when heading out.


Favourite eyeshadows of the moment.  5/5

Max Factor Masterpiece Colour Precision Eyeshadow

I'm a huge fan of maxfactor make-up artist videos, which are all on youtube. I bought 3 of these after watching CAROLINE BARNES use them in a couple of looks.  They do look very beautiful.  I find them pretty hard to blend the way she manages in the clip so I tend to use only one colour.  I have one unfortunate problem with these products. They make my eyelids sting.  I've used them about 20 times just because I like them but I decided to stop now because its kind of annoying as I'm constantly aware of my eyelids hurting.  So if you have sensitive skin you may want to avoid this product.  I give one to my mum and sister to use and they had no problems whatsoever and they are very happy with them and even went and bought more shades.


3/5  If you dont have sensitive eyes
0/5 if you are a bit delicate

Soap & Glory Hair Supply® 200ml

This is a brilliant hair conditioning mask.  The smell is amazing, I love it. It makes my hair (dry, colour-treated, damaged) super soft and shiny. It makes it so soft styling is a little tricky. But i usually just let the my hair lie long and free when i use this because i love the smell and to stroke it.  The smell lasts until you wash it again.  I leave this in my hair much longer than it suggests, I usually towel dry and apply a generous handful, comb it through then leave it in my hair the rest of the day or at least a few hours.  Its a weekly treat on my lazy day.  When rinsing the hair you can feel the changed texture, I adore this product!  Definitely one of the best conditioners I've tried.

5/5

Max Factor Age Renew Foundation

My favourite foundation to date! (closely followed by miracle touch and second skin if I don't have blemishes).

I tried this for the first time about 3 weeks ago and I've used it every day since.  I love Maxfactor foundations because they are the only brand I've found to be pale enough for my skin and they feel light and breathable compared to other brands.  Trust me I've tried so many brands over the past years.  trying to find a foundation that lasts, is light enough, doesn't cake the skin or clog the pores.

Now I'd never thought of buying this one because its called age renew, and I guessed that was for people well beyond my years.  However  a friend of mine told me she used it, and she has the most gorgeous clear, fresh looking skin i've ever seen in my life and she is 4 years younger than me!  She told me she preferred it because it was 'thicker'

So straight to boots and I got myself a bottle.  Wow!  It feels more like a moisturiser than a foundation, as it feels lovely and soft on the skin, she was right it is thicker and conceals better.  So this is now my number one!

5/5

Love it 



Note on touch-ups.
During the day when I need to touch up, for some reason all foundations fade on me, even though im testing primers at the moment.  So I always need to cover up my blemishes again in the afternoon.  Annoying ;/  but I find miracle touch to be the best product for this, a few dabs over the blemishes and it dries in nicely without streaking or caking when its applied over the make-up still on.

Max Factor Miracle Touch Liquid Illusion Foundation

This is a great foundation.  Its creamy and a little spreads a long way.  There is a sponge for applying but I prefer to dab it onto the skin with my fingers.  I love this foundation, it conceals very well, much better than the lighter Maxfactor foundation second skin.  The container is very cute too, and there is more in there than you think!


   4/5
It costs around £10.  I usually only buy it when theres a free gift or 3 for 2 in boots :)

Only reason I didn't give it 5 is because I now prefer  MaxFactor Age Renew Foundation.  But, when retouching make up later in the day this works perfectly over foundation/powder already on the face and doesn't cake.

 

Avon MagiX face perfector SPF 20

Love this one!  It's really easy to apply, I spread it on 5 minutes after the moisturiser.  Its spreads and blends on lovely.  Five minutes later the skins soooo smoooth, sometimes no foundation is even needed just a dab of concealer and blush and thats enough. ( I love those rare days).  Usually though my skin needs heavy foundation coverages which sits nicely on top of this bace.  It takes ages before I need to blot my nose, and the make up needs much less touch ups during the day.  I will definately buy it again, (I usually wait until its on offer in the Avon book) there is also a new foundation and face perfector combined that I'll maybe give a go soon! that would cut down on the make-up time in the mornings at least.

SPF 20 included, which is great for protecting your skin.

I still plan to try out one of the L'Oreal studio primers soon though. I wonder if it can make my skin look perfector?

No7 Shine Free Make-Up Base

"Keep shiny skin under control all day long, with No7 Shine Free Make-Up Base.  The mattifying oil-free base has light-reflecting particles which help disguise fine lines and flaws."

I've tried several times to make this product work, but I just can't.  It feels like applying polyfiller :(
Its extremely viscous and like clay.  It also isn't scent free, it has an odd smell, but that doesn't bother me too much.  I don't like it because it drags on the skin and dries before you even spread it very far, then you feel it tight on the skin, after 5 mins it does leave the skin nice and smooth but it doesnt feel good on the skin.

I've tried applying the moisturiser first, which helps it spread but it tends to form little rolls and fall of the face. Definitely don't wait for the moisturiser to sink in cause it will never spread in. When i put make-up on top it just leaves a thick layer on skin which rolls off, even when I wait 5 mins + before applying the foundation.   Very hard to not have large tide marks.  I won't be buying it again, though i am still trying to make it work when I dont have to go out. If anyone has any application tips let me know!

I've read a lot of reviews on this product and most seem to agree it's a nightmare to apply, but it does definately give you a matt surface (feels like it achieves this by sucking out all the moisture though)

I'll do some photos next time I attempt it!

Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara

 

There has been so much hype about this big fat mascara, unfortunately I don't know what the fuss was all about.  I didn't buy it- because I love masterpiece, I actually got this free in a maxfactor goodybag  I won for a review I wrote.  

I expected actual false eyelash look, but it did not deliver.  It was OK.  But compared to masterpiece it's pathetic.  The big fat brush makes it hard to get close to the edges and the brush doesn't really grip the lashes that well.  It dried in really quickly so I didn't get much time to layer it up before it got clumpy.  It didn't extend my lashes lengthwise, only made them look "fatter" 

Also this flakes off during the day.  I've been wearing it all week and every day when I've checked the mirror I've had black specs of dried crusty mascara on my cheeks :(  Back to masterpiece for me!

Max Factor Masterpiece MAX Mascara

 

My favourite mascara, old trusty.  I love it.  The brush is more like wee spikes which I usually don't like because they hurt when you stick it in your eye on the train. These ones aren't as sore as some others.  The mascara itself is fantastic.  It seperates out the lashes, gathering and extending lashes from parts of my eyelids I never seen lashes before, so you can get a lovely defined look.  It also doesn't crumble or smudge.  Its very easy to layer up whilst its still wet, and more and more lashes just keep appearing. Brush is handy shape for grabbing the little lashes at the corners that usually get forgotten about without crashing into the skin around the eye.  So my final word - long, defined full lashes without smudging.  My favourite.

I found a handy video on the maxfactor facebook/youtube a while ago in which make-up artist Caroline Barnes shows you how to apply this mascara properly.  Using her technique to seperate the lashes out made me love this mascara even more.  She recommends that you turn the brush and wiggle it about whilst the brush is against the lash line, the more twisting you do during the one stroke is far more effective than just doing multiple strokes along the lash (blinking onto wand technique - which I used to do before I washed this video)

Here is a link to one of her videos for makeover break: she doesnt use this mascara in the video but she explains the technique on this one. You can see it on any of her podcasts though 

Caroline Barnes (Maxfactor) - Make up artist demo - Mascara

Remember to wiggle (left <->right direction) and turn the brush as you apply :)