Chit Chat mascara

So the other day I bought a mascara. Not really that much of a big deal. I guess you could say it looks like a lot of other mascaras out on the high street at the moment. The difference? This mascara is part of a relaunched Chit Chat makeup range I spotted in Poundland.

While you're probably thinking I only ever buy makeup in pound shops, I'll be deflecting your attention to the brush. The reason I picked this up was that I strongly suspected a mahoosive mascara wand... and I was right. While the formula itself is really wet, the large brush is what made me try this product. I'm not normally one for brushes as big as this but at the moment my current daily mascara is giving up the ghost and I'm all for experiments. For £1, I could definitely justify trying this out.

Now here is the obligatory creepy 'before' photo of my eye with no makeup on to show my natural lashes. What you can see below is the after.

The plus points of this mascara are the price, pigmentation and lengthening properties. With one tiny dab of the wand, my lashes were instantly black. Applying this in gradual thin coats seems to be the way forward (which as you might be able to see from my sloppy application, I didn't quite manage) and so it definitely does do what it says on the tin. The wand reached the base to the tip of my lashes fine, however I did really have trouble with the wetness of the formula. Once it was on, it seemed to get everywhere. I also had an issue with getting mascara on my eyelids, which is a pet hate of mine. Finally when I was taking this off earlier, I got major panda eyes thanks to the uber pigmentation. Perhaps it might not be so great if it rains?

If you compare this to my previous review and photos of the Maybelline New York One by One mascara the photos don't actually differ too much. I'd say that the One by One covers my lashes individually and adds more volume. It also adds a lot more control. But if you can be more careful with your application than I was I'm sure the results would be pretty close.

I'll definitely keep playing with this mascara because despite its flaws I have yet to try a better mascara for as many pennies. I almost feel I'll regret saying that when it comes into contact with the air a little bit, it'll probably be better, because I don't want this to die off too soon! Personally I like a little bit more control and volume in a mascara but when I applied this over a base it really gave a lot more impact to the look. Either way I can still see myself reaching for this quite a bit. For £1, I can't really argue with that. Will any of you be checking out the revamped Chit Chat range?

The blonde brow dye-lemna part 2

So here is the second post in my brow series, this time focusing on the lowest budget products I've found available on the high street.

For starters, here is a picture of my light brown eyebrows before I do anything to them. Yes they're unkempt, and yes it's bugging me too. I hope that we can move on from this together. And below you can see a picture of my made up eyebrows (complete with silly facial expression) next to my hair, which as I established in post 1, is naturally brown.

Now, I do confess that these products were the first ones I'd ever bought with my brows in mind. I know that there are many reasonably priced products out there (several from ELF for starters) but due to convenience my first brow product purchases were pretty predictable! Day to day, I've been using 2 products that in total come to the price of £2 and only one of them is specifically designed for eyebrows! From the price tag you've probably also already guessed that they are by MUA. My daily brow products at the moment are limited to MUA's clear mascara (shade 1) and their eyebrow pencil in blonde.

This pencil impressed me from early on. The consistency of the product is incredibly soft and the tone is quite ashy and not too vibrant. While it is easy to work with this pencil due to its softness, I can just as easily be quite heavy handed with it due to the instant colour payoff. I also don't actually use the comb on the other end of the brush as I prefer using a mascara wand to blend away the sharp edges of the pencil and comb my brows into place at the same time. One criticism I do have is that the pencil can verge on the slightly orange tones if applied too heavily. Properly strawberry blonde girls should have nothing to fear, but it can be quite noticeable if I'm not careful.

Now, here is my not so clear mascara! The brush has in fact over time picked up a lot of the pencil's pigment and so the tube is a delightful murky beige. I've been meaning to pick up another one, really. Also, while this mascara does blend with the pencil's pigment and make it look a lot more natural, it does have some shortcomings. Firstly, it doesn't set my brows all day and I do unfortunately still sometimes have those moments where I look in a mirror and see that the hairs are totally skew-whiff. Also, it can leave some wet product on my brows for quite a while after application so I often end up dabbing this away.

While I do like both of these products I'd say that the pencil is the standout buy that I'd highly recommend. As you can see, while I make do with this routine it's far from perfect. I'm in the process of looking at my options and hope to have some follow up to this with alternative products!

Maybelline New York one by one mascara

So after something of a break from spending and blogging, I'm back! I'm sorry for the lack of warning but I'd like to say thank you for the continued support that has been trickling in during my absence. I hit 100 followers today and I'll take that as a hint to shut up, knuckle down and get on with the reviewing!

I never really thought that I'd review many mascaras for this blog simply because I don't own or buy many! I try to stick with an everyday mascara with a good wand for defining and not too wet a formula that doesn't clump or crumble away. I use it until it runs out and then I panic. The process of buying mascaras is a painful one because apparently, finding a product that fits all of my criteria is nigh on impossible! No matter how many reviews and swatches I look at, I still feel utterly befuddled in the shops.

When I bought this mascara on impulse, it was pretty out of character but I had my reasons. For starters it was the last one on the display! Despite the fact that I had read no reviews of it, I'd heard good whisperings about Maybelline mascaras in general. Priced at £6.49 (reduced from the regular price of £8.49) at Superdrug it was cheaper than the Rimmel option I was looking at and there was one glorious selling point that won me over in the end. Encased in the plastic packaging, for all the world and I to see... was the mascara wand.

For me the make or break part of any mascara is the wand. While I mostly ignore adverts, claims, the names (this one especially is a mouthful) and the differences in price, I can't compromise on the wand. I'm not a fan of giant clumpy bristles and I don't think I could work with a tiny comb so it totally mystifies me as to why 90% of the products I could have bought that day didn't show me what I consider to be the main selling point!

I'm highly reluctant to buy a mascara - budget or otherwise - only to open the tube and find a product I just can't work with! So when I looked at the Maybelline display and actually saw this wand with the rigid defining effect of a comb but the chance to get greater coverage, I handed over my cash for the snappily titled Maybelline New York the one by one volum' express mascara. Try saying that when you're tired!

When it comes to mascaras I am firmly of the belief that everyone has different preferences, so showing is often far better than telling. One person's holy grail item can be another's clumpy nightmare so for illustrative purposes in all its bloodshot glory here is one of my eyes with no makeup. For comparison purposes, this is what my lashes look like naturally...

And here is my other eye with the Maybelline mascara and  perhaps a little bit of undereye concealer. Now the difference is pretty impressive to me. My lashes look well defined and an awful lot longer without looking spidery! The clumps I experienced with this formula were minimal although I'd definitely say that as it is new and rather wet a little goes further than I thought it would. The rigidness of the wand allows me to get the product right to the base of my lashes and comb it outwards from there.

All in all I'd consider this to be money very well spent and this is now my new everyday staple. Due to the newness and the fact that very little air has reached the product, I allow my lashes a little while to dry and apply light coats rather than one heavy one just because I am that picky about clumps. I'm rather pleased with this purchase and strongly feel that other brands are missing a trick by not giving the people what they want and showing off their wands! What do you all think of the before and after here?

MUA Makeup Academy

Now here is a budget UK brand that has caused quite a stir amongst beauty bloggers already – MUA Makeup Academy. The key point about MUA is that every item in the range is currently £1. For £1 you could purchase any product from the range shown on their site. They also offer pressed powders which aren’t yet shown on the site and they very recently introduced some rather nifty brow pencils and pencil eyeliners into the range.

If you – like I was initially – are still doubtful of the quality of the range then I’ve included a quick overview of some of the eye products I own that I use very regularly!

I’m beginning with my favourite eyeshadow shades as it was the eyeshadows that first drew me to the range. Although I first selected a matte and neutral shade, MUA has gained a lot of popularity for the vibrant pigmentation of the shimmer shades on offer.

 (From left to right - shades 1, 4 and 9)

Shade 9 is a bright purple duo-chrome shade which gives an intense colour payoff. The eyeshadow is probably better used with a brush and is nice and blendable. This shade is beautiful and works nicely with the pale pink/lilac shade 4.

Shade 1 is an extremely shimmery white that works well as a highlighting colour to wear on the inner corners of the eyes and set off other shades. I literally use this daily as it is subtle when applied sparingly but can be built up easily for more vibrant looks.

If there are negatives I can say that the eyeshadows do crease somewhat after several hours when applied heavily. For evening looks they can migrate after a night out but I still opt to use them for both daytime and evening looks as I find the colours  so enticing! I imagine that with a decent base of primer these eyeshadows would last much longer. Also as a slight negative, the lid of my shade 1 eyeshadow recently broke at the hinge and now rarely stays on... but I think that’s probably through such regular use and transportation in my bag as all my other lids remain intact!

The mascaras I own by MUA are shades 1 and 5. Shade 1 is a clear mascara (that I usually use as an eyebrow gel) and shade 5 is black. Although I have never been able to achieve very extreme or dramatic results with shade 5, I still like it. The very soft brush allows for more subtle layers of mascara and I find it is easy to avoid clumping whilst still notably defining my lashes.

Shade 20 is a matte black eyeshadow which is a good staple for any collection. With just a little of the shadow it is easy to achieve a very dark and smoky effect. Although the matte brown (shade 19) and matte purple (shade 18) have never really worked for me and don’t seem to have very impressive pigmentation, shade 20 is a knockout.

(Clockwise from top - MUA eyeshadow shade 20, eyeliner pencil in 'Snow white' and brow pencil in blonde)

Despite the fact that the products only cost a small amount, it is obvious that a lot of thought goes into the design in this range. The brow products have a comb at the end whilst the brightly pigmented eyeliner pencils have a sharpener built into the lid. Another nice touch to these latest products is the addition of shade names.

I had debating buying a white eyeliner pencil for a while so when MUA released theirs I snapped up "Snow white" immediately. For £1 I got a creamy, long-lasting liner that I’d highly recommend for those experimenting with more dramatic looks. I’ve been tempted by some of the other shades in the range after trying this pencil out. For tamer looks there are some delicate pastel shimmers on offer; but I’m tempted more by the royal blue and vibrant orange offerings!

The brow pencils so far only come in 2 shades – a lighter caramel shade for blondes and a deeper brown for brunettes. I own the blonde shade (unsurprisingly) and found it did indeed bring quick and lasting results. For me, the brow pencils are best used sparingly and blended out due to my rather fine brows and the distinctive pigmentation of the pencil. When used with caution, you can still achieve satisfactory results!

One of the exciting things about MUA is that in the year the products have been available, the range has evolved greatly. In Superdrug’s DARE magazine recently there was a photograph of a new MUA professional range eyeshadow trio that caused quite a stir. Similar in appearance to a Bourjois eyeshadow trio, the MUA trio was shown in the shades of bronze, blue and grey. According to MUA on facebook, the range will contain many new products priced £1.50-£4 including the £2.50 trios, new nail polish shades and a face primer. The most expensive item will be a 12 shade eyeshadow palette at £4.

Thank you to the wonderful Emma for helping me photograph these products and let me say that I for one am very excited about the new range!