Mascara reviews

I’ve developed a bit of a thing for mascaras lately. We have a love-hate kinda relationship as I struggle to find ‘the one’. So rather than spending lots of money on one I’m not too sure if I’ll use more than once, I opted for a couple of cheaper brands just for now.


Also trying to buy a new mascara without guidance/previously read reviews, is like to trying to decide on which ice-cream to have when all of Baskin Ribbons delicious selection is in front of you – near on impossible! I went for a Collection 2000 number (never tried this brand before) called ‘Skyscraper’, opting for Extra Black. Needless to say I didn’t choose it for the packaging – the white looks a little tacky to me – but instead for the silicone brush which is in a curved shape with longer bristles on one side, shorter on the other. This actually works really well in that you can achieve lush curled lashes and also reach right in the inner corners with the snazzy wand. It’s also really good value at £ 4.99. The downside? It dries in that oh so clumpy way that means trying to reapply throughout the day just isn’t gonna happen. And when you remove it, it is very smeary making a bit of a mess.


I also bought the Rimmel Lash Accelerator in Extreme Black purely because of the grow-lash complex within an everyday mascara (whereas before I only had a grow-serum that you apply at night time). This comes with a traditional bristle brush albeit a neat small one which is great for application and is £8.99. It does well in lengthening my lashes but I don’t find it that ‘extreme’ in colour. Nor have I noticed a difference in my lash length but I have not been using this on a daily basis, one because it doesn’t achieve the look I want for daytime wear, and two I simply bought it for those days when you don’t go out and don’t wear make-up. It’s my indoor mascara if one of those even exists!

Ooh yes before I forget, just in case any of you were thinking, “but hey you just bought a gorgeous Dior mascara that you love?!”, tis true I did but after a month of using it the brush went all gloopy :( Every time I went to apply it the de-clumper squidged all the silicone bristles so they stuck to the wand making it a darn-sight harder to apply! I was so disappointed with it. Have any of you experienced the same problem at all?

I’m off to make my first ever home-made lasagne. On a roll with the freshly baked from scratch dinners at the mo! What are you doing this Sunday?

Ps, I’ve since bought ANOTHER mascara that I absolutely love! So look out for the review coming soon. Can you guess what brand it is?

Gold chain buckle

Every girl needs a pair of staple black pumps and these are mine. After sucking (well wearing) the life out of my beloved Primark lace pumps I had to come to terms with the fact they were a gonna. No longer pretty. No longer practical. And as my mother informed me, were verging on pike-ish. So it was time to renew them.

Being a shoe collection essential, and with every shop throughout the alphabet stocking a different style of the black ballerina, you'd think they'd be an easy purchase. Well you and I were wrong. It took me two months (yes two months!) to find a pair of pumps I loved that were interesting but still remained as simply a plain comfy shoe that can be worn with anything. The toe shapes out these days bemuse me. I didn't want them too rounded, definitely not pointed, nor did I want them patent, glittery, tassled or mary-jane strapped.

And so I opted for these. New Look, wide fit £19.99 with a lovely 20% student discount. Gosh I'll miss you NUS card next year.

Plain but not too plain, detailed but not too detailed (total contradiction but you know what I mean). Just a shame the damn things hurt so much!

Where have you found your perfect go-to pumps?

Autumn days when the grass is jewelled

My new pixie boots to see me through these Autumn days - Primark £15
Autumn has brought with it this week fallen leaves, scarves and boots with thick knit socks – my absolute favourite time of year. I find myself in the minority when it comes to the colder winter months as I prefer these sooo much more than the hot, sticky summer days, in which I am always met with this response: “Really??!! I hate winter!”

Well I bloody love it! Not the rain so much. Or the wind. Or the cold that has kindly been given to me this week. But crunchy leaves at your feet, chilly cheeks defrosting once in the warm, hot chocolates, watching the cold world go by when you’re indoors, snug as a bug in your pj’s and general a/w clothes blow the negatives out of the water big time.

On our way to the cinema last week (to see Footloose – fab film, go see it) we stepped outside and the chilly wind that caused us to all wear our winter coats for the first time this year made me squeee with glee as I just love that seasonal change. Also it’s a sure sign that my birthday is close and then Christmas! But don’t worry I’m not about to hark on about festivities yet, we are after all still in October – marginally.

Anyhoo, with it being 19 days and counting until my birthday, it means a snazzy new camera (which I’ve already got actually but feel I shouldn’t use until the 15th) is just around the corner...which means better pictures for you and more outfit photos! I’ve been bought a Panasonic Lumix FS14 – which tbh means diddly squat to me so do any of you know if this is a high quality image taker thingy majiggy?


In light of the colder weather (and with Guy Fawke’s approaching) I made myself some rather delish stuffed potato skins recently – onion, bacon and cheese for those of you who would like to know – and they were a-maa-zing! Very proud cook present.


I’ve also been sporting the Barry M Mushroom polish which seems to go fabulously with most of my outfits and is a very Autumnal in colour – perfect!

Are you too a winter lover sold at the mere mention of jim-jams, hot drinks and heated blankets?

Colour consultation by Nicola Davis

The starred shades are the ones best suited to me

Good colour...

...bad colour...
Today I did something I’ve never done before. Yes one, used the buses here in Southampton (A+ super friendly drivers and on time!) and two, had a colour consultation. For those of you that haven’t heard of it before, a colour consultation is where a consultant analyses which colours suit you best and enhance your looks by determining your ‘dominant’ (whether you are deep – brown eyes, brown hair – clear – dark hair, blue eyes etc) and using this to develop which shades you should and shouldn’t be wearing.

This wasn’t in the name of me having lost all direction of what lipstick to wear but as part of an interview I conducted for an article. So after a flurry of emails I journeyed on down to Upham where Nicola, a consultant trained by Colour Me Beautiful lives and works. I was taken into her gorgeous studio which is professionally presented in white, pale blues with a number of wicker baskets, where I carried out my interview.

After the formalities the fun part began! Through filling out a questionnaire and with Nicola’s expert knowledge, it was decided that I was a ‘deep’ in terms of hair and eye colour which meant make-up wise browns, deep dark reds (lipstick only) and aubergines were best suited to me. Removing my existing 7.30am-applied make-up (yes really), I was left with a clean base for the lesson/advice to begin.

Nicola applied foundation, concealer, powder, eye-primer, and a cream blush then gave me a choice as to which of the selected shades I would like to try on my eyes. Now as the novice I am when it comes to applying eye make-up – only ever opting for mascara, a brown or black pencil and a touch of eye-shadow that looks more like a powdery mess – I wanted to try something different. So I went for the aubergine pencil and a combination of a light brown and a purple eyeshadows.

We also played around with the drapes Nicola uses to conduct a full colour analysis in terms of clothing as well as cosmetics and it showed how much difference wearing the wrong colour can make – I seriously can not pull off pale pink, pale blue, or mint green - practically any pastel shade for that matter!

So as well as gaining my interview, experiencing the service first-hand and spending the morning with a lovely lady, I also discovered that...actually I’m going to save the details for my article, sorry! But if you are intrigued why not pop along and have a consultation yourself. Nicola offers everything from style consultations to personal shopping - you can find her website here. If you feel unsure, stuck in a rut or are lacking in confidence, this is your solution! There is no sales exec pressurising you to buy the products, Nicola is simply there to steer you in the right direction and give you that boost. She also offers gift vouchers which make for fabulous presents for friends and loved ones, and is soon adding bridal consultations to her extensive list too.

It was a super fun and insightful experience. I mean what girl doesn’t love to be pampered? Thank you Nicola!

Have any of you heard of colour analysis before? Are you keen to try it?

Little blue dress

What’s with the mini-heatwave October? Believe it or not I was able to wear my new capped sleeve skater dress in its full glory yesterday and not have to cover it up with a cardi or trusty barbour – the Topshop delight appreciated this muchly and deserves to be outed rather than hidden beneath my chunky knits.

I bought this dress in Milton Keynes a few weeks ago and love it! Topshop were actually doing twenty percent off for students at the time so I got it for £30.40 instead of £38 = happy, happy me!! I teamed it with this belt (the dress came with a slightly darker braided plait one), beige block tights and my tan wedges. The perfect Autumn outfit.

The whole weekend is supposed to be lovely here in the South but I will be basking in the sunshine through windows and on my lonesome as my four-day weekend is to be spent on my todd doing work work work. How thrilling!


My bestest bud created these curls for me with the Babyliss 2285U Curling Wand - it's totes amaze :)
Apart from those moments when I crave a procrastinating chat and find only text books to talk to (haven’t quite reached that point yet – the treats in the fridge seem to be suppressing it) I do rather enjoy my own company every now and then. Tonight for instance I have a phone date with my mum, yummy stuffed potatoes for dinner and a dose of DCI Banks to watch. The usual Saturday night X Factor viewing won’t be the same without the girls. Although I will be able to watch my bloody fantastic choice in films without subjecting my friends to them: High School Musical, Clueless and Raise Your Voice are all on my fancy-watching-list. Yep the only venture I’ll be making to the outside world is to the laundry room this weekend.


However next weekend it’s my turn to go home (hence the heavy work cramming now) and I’m super excited! Just to have a break from working will be nothing short of heaven – you know this whole uni shiz means you literally never get a break! Sometimes I think nine-to-fiver’s have it easy as a two-day break each week is unheard of come third year...

Do you have any plans for the sunny weather?

Think of me this weekend knee-deep in Roland Barthe’s theories, feature ideas (or lack of) and interview prep.

For towie fans only

Just a super quick post today to show you the pics from a fashion event held in Southampton's West Quay shopping centre last weekend. It was launched by Sam Faiers from The Only Way is Essex so naturally me and my best bud went over to see her!

She opened the event at 11.30am, had an interview on the catwalk and then stayed to watch the show. We left before she did in the end as we felt a) slightly stalkerish and b) a bit silly as most of the audience was little girls! Oh well we love a bit of Essex and didn't want to pass up the opportunity. We were so close (although you wouldn't know from my photo quality).

Sorry to those that aren't a fan - hence me keeping it brief - although I think secretly everyone likes to indulge in a bit of 'towie'! You know I'm ri-ight :)

A string of hearts

I have a fair few products to review for you but today I wasn’t in the beauty post kinda mood. I’m actually in a ‘third-year’s-too-hard-I have-no-fab-ideas-and-I’d-like-to-go-home-to-bed-now-please’ sort of mood (and by home I mean Hertfordshire). Woke up with the blues today – probably helped by the sea of hideous blue carpet that swarms through my flat – and just wished that I could run away from all education-linked responsibility. You know, just have a bed day, watch Sleeping Beauty with treats and not feel guilty?

Anyways after a terrible day of phone-restoring (completely back to basics *sob*), a cut foot and a hefty two hour seminar on Barthes theories I want nothing more than to soak in a bubble bath and curl up in my ridiculously comfy bed. In ten days time that is. Yep my shower and hard mattress accompanied by street noise is as close as I’ll get to that for a while.

So the point of this post (aside from my rant, sorry!) is to cheer myself up so I paid a little visit to an old blogger friend of mine – weheartit - with the intention of finding beautiful images. Well what was staring at me on the homepage? A picture of the word ‘Happiness’. I think someone was trying to tell me something. Or not.

Sourced from weheartit.com
A triple pack of Maryland cookies and a date with...hmmm what's on on a Tuesday?? (FILL IN BLANK HERE)... is calling.

Ooh and the picture above?? This is the first wall decoration I have put up in my bedroom at home. I bought it in a small boutique in my old home-town (*glory*) for £5 which I thought was a bargain. I was contemplating painting it brown but I love the home-made/painted white effect combined with the brown string. Each heart also has a little peg on the back to clip photos on. Sweet huh?

Do you have any words of wisdom or funny stories to make me smile?


End note: Slight exaggeration may have been used in this post but was not harmed. And I’m not as a prolific whinger as this post may suggest. Honest...

Not-so-smartie-pants

Apologies for being slack with the Sunday catch-up posts. You didn’t miss much as the last couple have been spent packing, unpacking, travelling and reading. So nothing of great interest to note. Gosh that puts me under pressure to impress with this one I guess...

This week consisted of a mammoth food shop with an unexpected price, a stolen trolley, a hellofalottareading, uni bud reunions, the start of third year, a new crush, a complete dim-wit moment, and a few new pretty purchases.


(The is the colour I was wearing last week. Topshop's appropriately named 'Moving House' polish)
I am now officially back in the newly painted walls of my flat in Southampton. Same views, same desk, same slow lift. But we have lovely new chocolate brown leather sofas (!) aaand I have a zillion-bagillion essays to write, books to read, features to plan blah blah blah. My problem? Inspiration has fluttered off to another realm leaving me drowning in a sea full of panick :(

On the plus side I have only two (yes TWO) full days of uni consequently leaving me with a four day weekend and an obviously well-needed break midweek. With assignments coming out of my ears though, I can assure you these will be used wisely.

After parting with copious amounts of moola the last few days (start of the semester is always the most expensive time!) I find myself in the company of a new pair of shoes – matte black wedges to dress up a winter outfit and complement my knitwear obsession – twenty-five dinners to keep me going until November (Asda did me proud on the offers front (£70 between two!!)) and two Topshop tops that give my plain top collection a bit of oomfph.


(H&M £19.99 with 20% student discount - purchased at the student lock-in shopping event...ooh I also was a meter away from TOWIE's Sam Faiers this week!)
I did also buy an academic calendar for the year to write all my uni-goings-on in for 50p. Bargain huh? Well, as well as the '10-11' clearly written on the front, I soon realised when trying to locate the 7th October on a Friday and finding that the diary is telling me it’s a Thursday, that in fact my bargain ended in July. Fabulous! You can imagine what a wolly I must have looked buying an out of date diary. Yep that’s me! (You can tell my brain hasn’t quite sunk into the uni frame of mind yet).

Here’s to hoping this week is more successful on the intelligence side of things Rebecca! How have your back-to-uni weeks been?

Ps, New crush: Ryan Gosling. B e a utiful. Crazy Stupid Love’s Jacob is my ideal man and I woke up the next day sad that it was a in fact a film and he does not exist (to my knowledge anyways).

Nimue Skin Technology Purifier

Have you heard of the brand Nimue? I hadn’t until this summer when I visited my local salon for a much needed facial. At the time my skin was in really bad condition and had broken out in an acne-like spot frenzy! To help my red, bumpy complexion my lovely therapist Clare gave me a few samples, one being the Nimue Purifier among other Elemis products that I have also fallen for.


After applying the purifier in a thin layer over the affected spotty area of a night for two weeks, I noticed a definite change. My acne spots were clearing up and my skin regaining its smooth complexion once again (Obvs the facial helped too!)

I did a bit of research on the brand and they are a primary leader in skin technology, mainly found in leading skin care salons and are renowned for their expert understanding of skincare and effective treatments. And boy do they know their stuff!

So two weeks ago when my skin once again broke out and decided to form a dot-to-dot game on my face - and this was before I'd even started back at uni may I add - my only thought to combat it was “I need Nimue!” (not to be mistaken by Nemo people). Off to my salon I went as I was struggling to find an online store to purchase from.


The 50ml pot cost me £30.75 which is fairly steep but what can I say, I was desperate and didn’t know where else to turn! It instructs that for occasional breakouts: apply sparingly to clean, dry skin at night and on spots during the day, and for chronic breakouts (me!): apply sparingly to clean, dry skin night and day.

It comes with a little spatula and you literally need the smallest amount, it spreads a long way. It has quite a strong medicinal fragrance but doesn’t feel harsh on my skin in the slightest. It is light and absorbs quickly so you could easily wear it under make-up.


I've been using it day and night for two weeks now and it has made a real difference. I'm going to keep with it as I believe it really helps me and hopefully once this horrid batch of spots are combatted, using this will help keep them at bay.

My local salon offers Nimue Rejuvenation facials which I may invest in to discover more products from the range. If you suffer with acne or the occasional breakout however, I really truly recommend this.

I know what will be on my Christmas list this year! What spot treatments do you swear by?