Maybelline - The Rocket Volum' Express Mascara | Review.

Good morning! How is everyone today? I hope your week is off to a great start! I'm enjoying mine so far, I have 5 days holiday off work. Really needing it, I just worked 7 days straight and it felt like the longest week ever.
This week I will be spending time relaxing, catching up with people and a bit of cleaning too! Blogging as well, can't forget that! :)

Here's another purchase from a couple of weeks ago. It's always nice to test out products a few times before doing a review, I find. This product is the newest mascara from Maybelline, it's got a long name, as usual! here goes...The Rocket Volum' Express Mascara. I must say I avoided it for quite some time, I wasn't fond of the packaging and I thought I wouldn't like it. I like the colour combination, but just not for a mascara. That might just be me, I'm not sure. However, after seeing some wonderful reviews of it I couldn't resist for long!

It was compared to They're Real! by Benefit, and that's honestly what swung it for me. Plus the fact it was on offer for £5.99 in Superdrug at the time (I'm unsure what the normal price is, £8.99 maybe). I hate spending an obscene amount of money on mascara (for example £18.50 on They're Real!). I have a sample of said Benefit mascara and I love it, as most people do, and I fully intended to get a full sized one when my sample runs out but now I feel I don't need to. That's how well the Maybelline Rocket performs, the plastic/rubber bristles separate lashes wonderfully and add a lot of length as well as volume. The black is very black too. At first I found the feel of the wand a little weird on my lashes as the bristles are short, you get used to this very quickly.
I've seen some absolutely horrible reviews on the Maybelline website, mainly complaining about clumping and the brush. I must say I disagree with both of these things. I have no problem with clumping, and while the brush is a little odd it does get easier to use after two or three uses! The only thing I have a problem with is removal, it seems like a waterproof mascara even though it isn't. This wouldn't be a problem for most people but I'm not really a fan of waterproof anything as I like to be able to remove it easily. Especially mascara. So I probably need a better make up remover, but I'm waiting for Bioderma to come to the UK. Hopefully it will be soon!

FOTD | Famous Palette, Rimmel + B.

You know when you think you're trying something new and it ends up being exactly the way you normally do it? Maybe it's just me, but I thought I was trying something a little different with my eye make up here but it just looks like everything else I've ever posted! So I've promised myself, and now you, that I'll be going out of my comfort zone and pushing for something a bit different this week! I must be stuck in a rut, I've got the hang of this kind of eye, but I must move on! 

Please excuse the slightly dopey expressions as per usual.

Christmas Goodies | YSL Touche Eclat + Lancome Hypnose Drama.

My lovely, thoughtful boyfriend bought me some amazing gifts for Christmas! I realise I'm a bit late with this post, but I wanted to leave it a while and give the products (or most of them) a good try first.

The first thing I got was something I'd been lusting over for around a year, Touche Eclat by YSL (£25). I don't tend to use highlighters, but this one is amazing. The gold pen looks amazing, it's so luxurious! Clicking the button is so satisfying, haha. I tend to use it under my eyes, over foundation and concealer, this helps brighten them that little bit extra. I also use it on my cheekbones and cupids bow. It gives your skin a beautiful glow which looks really natural. I'm not a huge fan of really sparkly or shimmery highlighters so this is absolutely perfect for me. Kyle got me Shade 2 which is the lightest one I believe.
For more info and tips visit the website here.

Festive FOTD.

Ello there! Did everyone have a lovely festive season? I know it's technically still happening with it being Hogmanay and all but yeah...
Does everyone have exciting plans for new year? We're having a few friends up to the flat, should be an enjoyable night.

Now, I know I missed last weeks Wednesday Waffle, but I think I should be forgiven seeing as it was boxing day and I had to work! Yes? Ok. :)
This weeks will be extra special. Promise.

This post is just to show you my Christmas FOTD, or what I had planned to do (these photos are from a test run I did the week before) but I was too tired to do a full face of make-up on the actual day. My eye make-up was done though!
Please, as usual, ignore my strange expressions...

Products used.

Foundation - Rimmel Lasting Perfection - Shade 010.
Highlighter - Britney Fantasy palette.
Blush - Nars - Orgasm.
Lips -  ELF matte lip pencil - Tea Rose + clear gloss (also ELF).
Eyes - Benefit Passport to Posh eyeshadows + Naked palette (Darkhorse + Sin, if I remember correctly)
Brows - MUA eyebrow pencil - Brown + MUA clear mascara.
Eyelashes - Benefit Bad Gal Lash.

I think that's all the products I used, it has been 10 days since I did this so I hope I remembered everything! I wanted this look to be a bit more shimmery so that's why I used the Britney highlighter. The little palette it's from was hiding at the back of my drawer and I suddenly remembered about it, it's got a couple of nice eyeshadows in it too. Maybe a wee review is in order, although I don't know if it is still available to buy.
It's still a very natural look and pretty similar to my last look, I used a bit more dark shadow in the outer corner/crease this time for a slightly more dramatic look.

Did you do any special make up for Christmas day? What will you be doing for Hogmanay?

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Benefit Passport to Posh | FOTD.

I was very excited to attend the Benefit event at my local Debenhams last week. The £10 ticket was redeemable so I picked up this handy little set called Passport to Posh for half price at £12.50 (there was also 10% off at the time)! It's also exclusive to Debenhams, full retail price is £25.

It comes with instructions on how to do your eye make-up which is great if you're a beginner, and I am when it comes to eye make up especially! I'm also looking forward to playing around with it a bit and seeing what other looks I can create.

I just did my eyebrows as well, I feel they could go thinner, a bit scared to pluck them more though!

The Wednesday Waffle - Week 1 | Amy Poehler + Benefit Event.

I felt like doing a catch up sort of post, so here we are. I decided to give it a fun title, so seeing as it's Wednesday and I tend to ramble (or waffle) on in posts like this The Wednesday Waffle it shall be! I would go ahead and commit to saying that I'll do this every Wednesday, but who am I kidding?! I'll try though. I also wanted to pay homage to Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation, possibly my favourite female character in a comedy series ever (she loves waffles)! Amy Poehler who plays Leslie is also one of the most inspiration people I've ever come across, just watch one of her Ask Amy videos and you'll see what I mean...

Pretty sound advice.

What have I been up to this week? Surprisingly, a lot actually. Usually I'm pretty boring and don't do a lot other than work, but this week I've been out and about.

Last Wednesday I went out dancing with my friend Megan, even though I had work at 8am on Thursday! It was great fun though, we had a laugh dancing to Gangnam Style and our favourite Nicki Minaj (we love to rap to Super Bass more than we should).

Thursday was work until 3, then to The Nether for a catch up with Kirsty and her friends. We ate the largest slices of cake ever, think Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda! I then went home to get changed as I was heading to Nandos for tea with some friends from school. We had a lovely time, it was nice to catch up with them.
We finished up at about half 9, it was then time to get changed again and head up to meet Jess at her flat. We had a few drinks with her friend Katie and then headed to the Union for the Harry Potter themed night. I wish I knew we were going so I could be more prepared, but I had a top with skulls on and was dressed mostly in black (no surprises there) so I said I was a Death Eater. There were some fantastic costumes, such as a Golden Snitch, Fred and George, some owls, a few house elves and Snape. I wish I had some photos!

Friday was more relaxed even though I had work for about 7 hours.

It was my work night out on Saturday, I bought a new dress from Primark. It's lovely, very simple but suits me well and is easy to dress up with accessories. It's a grey capped sleeve midi dress, I'll maybe do and OOTD with it at some point because it's perfect for winter as it's pretty cosy and great for layering!
We went out for a meal then had a few drinks and some of us headed out to Kage nightclub for a bit of dancing and some more drinking! They play some ace music there, such as Slipknot, Pearl Jam, Disturbed, Metallica, System of a Down, and loads more.

Sunday was my day off, thankfully! Another lazy day, went up to visit my mum who cooked me tea and we sat and watched An Idiot Abroad and Americas Next Top Model. I had a great time there too, it's always nice to see her.

Monday I worked all day and went to a Benefit make-up event at Debenhams in the evening. Something I'd never done before, so it was a bit daunting but exciting. I went with my friend Jess. There was a make-up artist there who was showing us how to use Benefit products to create a look for the holiday season. This was very interesting and I think I learned a few new tips and tricks. There was wine and nibbles which was a nice touch. We were then able to browse the products and there were lots of people to help out, I think everyone that works at the counter was there. The cost of the ticket (£10) was redeemable on the night, so I picked up a nifty little eye set for only £12.50 as the 10% Debenhams sale was still applicable too. It was originally £25, so it was essentially half price!
We also were given a goodie bag which included a sample size Posie tint, a mini They're Real mascara and a full size Dandelion lipgloss worth £13.50 on it's own! 
I'll post some photos now.

Colossal Smoky Eyes.

I'm so bad at writing, it's really no wonder I failed Higher English twice. An embarrassing admission, but hey! I've tried to start writing this a few times now, but I don't know what I'm trying to say exactly. Do you ever feel like you're talking about yourself too much? I use 'I', or other variants constantly and I'm getting sick of it, there I go again, and again!

What am I talking about today? Well, I recently bought the new Maybelline Volume Express Colossal  Smoky Eyes (bit of a mouthful, or eyeful hah) mascara and Master Smoky shadow pencil. They were on offer in Superdrug for £10 for the two, but the black liner was constantly sold out. I decided to try Boots as it was close by, I also figured they might have higher quantities of stock, and they did! Even better they had them on special for £10 for the two like Superdrug.

Sorry for the rubbish photo, I had to take it with my phone as my Mum was in Ireland (at the Game of Thrones convention!) and she borrowed my camera.
Anywhhaay, I've used them twice now. I love the mascara, it's the first mascara I've instantly fallen in love with. Though I must admit it's the first time I've spent more than £3 on mascara. I know, I know, I'm terrible. For some reason I didn't believe that there could be much difference between mascaras and that they all do the same job. Now I realise how silly that was, and I really want to try more! It was really easy to use, I love the brush and I feel that my lashes are really separated. They also do look bigger and more voluminous. No complaints there!
However I'm not too sure how I feel about the shadow pencil. It is a lovely liner and it feels slightly creamier than a normal liner, but when it came to using the smudger tool on the other end I had some trouble. Maybe I just don't have the right skills, but I couldn't get it to smudge as much as I had hoped. It was actually quite sore as I had to try so hard to smudge it. First world problems.
I do really like the idea, and I've been looking for a foam smudger for a while so this is perfect really. It's just going to take a bit of practice! 

Here's a couple of photos of me wearing the mascara and shadow pencil.