Quick Pick: Nivea Daily Essentials

As long as I can remember, my skin has always been a little troublesome. My cheeks have quite a bit of red pigmentation in them, and can vary from oily to very dry and sore. I also still have quite an oily t-zone. I have to be careful with what I use on my face. After a pretty severe reaction to a Clean and Clear wash a while ago, I'm pretty wary when it comes to washes and scrubs. However on a whim I picked the wash from this line a few months ago, and the scrub more recently.

I love nothing more than the clean feeling a nice face wash leaves, and as I've always been a fan of Nivea products I thought this would do the trick. It has a lovely clean, fresh scent, and a little goes a long way. It foams nicely and leaves my skin feeling lovely, albeit ever so slightly tight. I use this pretty much every morning, and have just bought a new one as they are on offer in Tesco right now. This is a staple of my skincare routine. The exfoliating scrub is a more recent purchase as I've been dealing with blemishes and blackheads recently. Again it has a lovely scent, and is gentle yet leaves my skin feeling thoroughly cleaned and refreshed. I highly recommend these products to even those with sensitive skin. They really are a budget friendly gem of a line. Nivea is available nationwide.

Do you use a face wash, or prefer to stick with cream cleansers, or perhaps even wipes?

Till next time,

Toodles,

Jen x 

Collection 'Work The Colour' Eyebrow Kit

Eyebrows... I have an obsession. The first thing I notice on anyone is their brows. I will not let anyone touch my own as it's taken me years to get them how I want them. I'm still not totally there yet. I feel a makeup look isn't complete with brows being filled in, so I picked up this little kit from Collection a few weeks ago as it was on offer.

(NO idea why these uploaded sideways, and for some reason it won't let me flip them) But I digress... This cute little set comes with 3 colours, a brow gel and a little double ended brush. The one strange thing I noticed was that once you remove the plastic packaging there's no where to store the gel. I'm not a big fan of brow gel anyway so this didn't bother me too much. Too be honest I didn't even open it :)

The powders themselves are quite a nice texture and a nice range of colours. I imagine this would be a nice addition to a students kit, or someone starting out in the business. Although you don't have to be an mua to use this, as the colours you don't use on your brows can double up as eye shadows too.

This would be handy to carry in your bag as it also has a small mirror inside and with the double ended brush you can fix brows and eyes on the go! This is priced at €4.99 in Boots at the moment which is pretty reasonable for 3 pretty matte shadows. Are you a fan of Collection? Is it all about the brows??

Till next time,

Toodles,

Jen x

Blank Canvas Cosmetics Eyeliner Pens

The first makeup product I remember buying was black eyeliner. I wore it all the time. In recent years I've learned about blending and, you know, not looking like a panda, but black liner has always held a special place in my heart. I own all types, pencil, liquid, gel and pen. However the latter isn't always easy to find, and certainly doesn't always live up to the standards some brands imply. Recently Blank Canvas Cosmetics have jumped on the band wagon. If you know me at all you know I love BCC brushes. They were some of the first brushes in my kit back when not many people even knew who they were. I still use those brushes today. So I was very intrigued to say the least when I saw these two new liners on their page.

First up is Winging It. This is my favourite of the two. It has a long pointed tip which makes it much easier to give a lovely defined cat eye look. You can also create thicker lines with this pen depending on your preference. Second is Borderlines. The tip on this is also nicely however not quite as thin and long. I prefer this for a thicker more dramatic liner effect.

Top: Winging It

Bottom: Borderlines

With a small amount of practice these are easy to use. The dry relatively quickly, are smudge proof, and leave a nice opaque black, slightly glossy line. You can also wear these alone or over shadow (which I was impressed by as I've purchased similar products before that didn't show up well on top of shadow). The only thing I will say is make sure when putting the lid back on you push it down till you hear a click as you don't want them drying out! 

Left: Borderlines

Right: Winging It

I do really like both of these for creating different looks but at a push I'd probably favour Winging It. My eye shape can be tough to create a liner flick on but this made it much easier for me. These are on offer on their website at €9.99 right now. (Normal retail €11.99) 

What do you think of pen liners? Would you give them a try or stick to the old reliables of pencil and liquid?

Till next time,

Toodles,

Jen x

Quick Pick: Original Source Shower Gels

There's nothing better then having a shower first thing in the morning to perk you up, or one after a long hard day to help you wind down. I love me a good oul shower gel. And I like to have a few different scents on the go at any one time. I'd never tried any Original Source products before so when I saw these on offer in Tesco, into the shopping basket they went.

They have a few choices, but I settled on Lemon and Tea Tree and Vanilla and Raspberry. I can't say enough nice things about these! They were great value at around €1.50, they both smell fantastic (reminiscent of Loop the Loop ice cream, and those little red and white strawberry flavoured hard sweets!), they foam up really nice, and even after drying my skin off I can still smell the scent of each. Plus, they're vegan, which is always wonderful! 

Are you a fan of Original Source products? 

Til next time,

Toodles,

Jen x

Rimmel Day 2 Night mascara vs Collection Supersize mascara

One makeup product I never like to spend a huge amount on is mascara. In my very humble opinion most are very similar, and dry out far to quick to fork out anything over €10. But nevertheless I love trying out new ones. So today I have reviewed two reasonably priced (even if one is slightly over my usual budget!) little gems.

First up is Rimmels Day 2 Night. The 'science' behind this double wand idea is one gives your lashes length for day time while one the other gives extra volume for night time. It's a nice idea, two mascaras in one, but does it work?

Well I'm happy to report back, yes it does! The length side really does give the appearance of longer lashes, while the volume side also does what it says on the tin (provided you don't go to heavy handed with it). It drys pretty quickly, and doesn't flake throughout the day. At €10.19 in Boots, it's definitely worth a try :)

Lengthening 

Volumising 

So next up is a slightly cheaper product, with no 'two fancy wands', yet it left me pleasantly surprised. I picked up Collections Supersize mascara on a whim as part of a deal in Boots. I didn't have great hopes as it retails at €3.99 but boy was I wrong.

It claims to give 'fat lashes'. That's what we all want, right?... I don't know about fat, but this definitely gave me volume and a little lengthening with any clumping at all. It's also possible to build up layers on this without ending up looking like a spider who fell into a bottle of ink. I highly recommend picking this up even if you aren't on a budget. Collection have gotten it right again.

What mascara would be your all time fav? Which ones do you repurchase again and again?

Til next time,

Toodles,

Jen x

The Body Shop Colour Crush Shine Lipstick Review

Sometimes when you're used to the same lip colours it can be hard to venture out into different territories. People tend to stick to the safe colours they know. Yet it can be nice to try out new tones. So here is a lipstick you can do this with, which is still sheer enough to not shock you too much!

I managed it get my hands on three of their shades from this ten shade range. My only qualm with these is that each shade doesn't have a name, but rather a number. However, I can get over this due to the quality of the product. Straight away I noticed the lovely scent. It thankfully isn't that waxy lipstick smell we're all too familiar with, but a much more subtle, sweet smell.

Although these aren't necessarily colours I would normally pick, a swatch on the back of my hand soon showed me just how pretty these all are. They have a lovely wash of colour. I love the shimmer in these too, but this definitely won't be to everyones taste.

I was surprised at how long these lasted, and you don't even need a mirror to reapply these which I found incredibly handy on the go. Their also quite moisturising so that gets a big thumbs up from me as I feel a lot of lipsticks can draw moisture from your lips. At  €12.95 each they're a little more than I would spend on a lippie of this kind, but they are certainly a nice treat! :)

Til next time, 

Toodles,

Jen x

  

Quick Pick: Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Sometimes we don't want to read a big massive review on a product. We just need to know is it good, and what it costs, right? So I'll have the odd blog under the title of 'Quick Pick' doing just that!

I've seen lots of reviews on this cleansing water already, but I felt like adding my two cents. I've never been this impressed with such an affordable, simple cleanser.

It literally does what it says on the tin. It cleanses the skin very gently, and leaves it soft and not feeling tight. I also use this to clean off eye makeup. I have used this on myself and many others and have had no complaints or reactions. Many have asked what it was, and where surprised when they found out it wasn't a more expensive brand! It isn't often you find a product that suits everyone, but I firmly believe this will suit most! Plus at €4.19 in Boots right now, it's an absolute bargain which will last you ages :)

Til nest time,

Toodles,

Jen x