RapidLash Update - Week 4

I've been a bit rubbish over the last week and haven't been applying my RapidLash as often as I should have been - I went away and forgot to take it with me so that was about 6 days out of the 14 I didn't use it. Oops, so no pic this week as I don't feel like it counts!

I'll give you some more info about RapidLash instead to make up for my rubbishness.

Apparently in a clinical study of 48 people over 84 days, lashes were up to 50% longer and 75% thicker. You can use it on your brows too if they're a bit sparse.

RapidLash retails for £39.99 and is available exclusively in the UK from Boots and Boots.com for anyone wanting to give it a go.

Revlon Nail Enamel in 570 Vixen (Adele's nails at the Brit Awards!)

Vixen is a really deep (almost brown) red, very wearable and classic. It's a little bit different to the colours I'd usually wear but I like it nevertheless.

This is only the second Revlon polish I've tried and application was pretty good, I find the brush easy to use, but the formulation was a little bit watery and it was easy to apply too much or for a big blob of it to suddenly run down from the top of the brush. Drying time was fine too as long as you don't apply too much, I forgot to apply topcoat on this and it chipped by the second day but this probably wouldn't be the case if you did use a topcoat. I'd also recommend using a base coat with this as I suspect it would stain...

I had thought it was quite similar to Leighton Denny polish in Monroe - and it is, but Monroe is a little bit pinker. I doubt the untrained eye could tell the difference anyway!

Apparently, this was what Adele was wearing at the Brit Awards, applied by Mike Pocock - I love her makeup and the way she does her hair, it's all very classic and she knows what suits her - and is Revlon's best-selling nail colour.

Products I bought last week blatantly for the packaging:

Batiste Brit

It's not my favourite scent of Batiste (that's Boho, Diva or Fresh!) but the packaging is definately my favourite. It works the same as all the other ones out there. Just on the subject I think Batiste have marketed these products really well and made something quite dull (talc for your hair to mop up grease...ew!) into something almost covetable.

ASOS Exclusive Bourjois Blusher - 16 Rose Coup De Foudre

I didn't want or need a blusher, I'd never tried Bourjois blusher before and I had no clue about the colour but based on the pretty packaging this somehow became part of my ASOS order. Luckily I like it, the colour is a little more on the peach side of pink than I'd normally go for but it's a nice difference (I suppose I'd have been annoyed if it was exactly the same as my other blushes, wouldn't I?) and it smells really nice.

Luckily, purchasing based on packaging has worked out well for me on this occasion!

Ardell Fashion Lash - Demi Wispies

I bought some Ardell Wispies on a whim after hearing good things about them and with them being very different from the usual spiky, separated false lashes I usually wear. I also don't usually wear much eye make up - a bit of eyeliner and mascara and I'm good to go so I thought why not mix it up a bit?

On this pic I've got on:

• Rimmel Colour Rush Mono Eyeshadow - 214 Matte Black
• MAC Pigment - Family Crest
• MAC Smolder Eye Kohl - Black
• No7 Exquisite Curl Mascara
• Rimmel Flash Eyeliner in Black

The MAC pigment looks a lot more impressive in the flesh, it gives a subtle gold shimmer (I applied it wet over the Rimmel shadow for a bit of depth). But my god it's messy! I also know zilch when it comes to contouring or blending shadow and which brushes to use for what, I'd like to learn but I wear eyeshadow so infrequently it's not really that high on my priorities. I do get major envy when I see really well-done eye make up though!

Overall I was really pleased with these lashes - they look fairly natural (as natural as inch long perfectly curled lashes can do!) without looking boring or pointless, the invisible band is great and the price of these lashes was good. I sort of have two issues with Ardell lashes though:

1. The lash glue is in a tear open cardboard packet that can't be resealed, so if I want to take glue out with me in case one frees itself during the night I have to take a different glue with me. I'd rather the lashes were cheaper and I knew i had to use my Duo from the off.

2. The fact they're made from 100% human hair. Now, I'm not especially squeamish - I mean, I wore woven extensions for years and still dabble with clip ins from time to time, but I really do have to ask the question whose hair is this and whereabouts the hair is from? At least with extensions you know it's head hair :-)

But despite that moan - I'll definately be buying these lashes again and I'd actually like to try some of the other Ardell lash styles as they look really good.

RapidLash Update - Week 2

Ok, I took some pics of my lashes to do my week two RapidLash update and in all honesty...not a jot of difference. And in the latest pictures I've taken I appear to have crows feet, brilliant!

I do think my lashes look healthier/better but not at all longer. Never mind, still another 6 weeks of testing to go on this so not totally written it off yet!

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day! Sorry this isn't the most romantic of posts!

YSL Rouge Volupte in Opera Rose (29)

I've wanted a YSL Rouge Volupte for a long while now but their price has always made me hesitate. So after a few months of hoarding Boots points (lots of trips to the machine that gives you extra points, buying meal deals, actually using extra points vouchers instead of them just hanging around in my purse, using Boots Treat Street etc.) I finally had enough to indulge.

I opted for Opera Rose (#29) as I like my mid-bright pinks - some of the other pinks were either really bright fuschia or very pale and neither of that is really my cup of tea. For the price and for my first try, I wanted something a bit "safe" that I know I'd wear.

The packaging on these is so gorgeous and luxurious, I realise that that's probably a sizeable part of the reason they're so expensive but just look at how pretty it is:

 

Rouge Volupte feels gorgeous, creamy and hydrating on the lips. The colour is really well pigmented and lasts a few hours, the same as most lipsticks that aren't long-lasting etc. I. LOVE. IT. I recommend that you at least swatch these lipsticks and feel how lovely the formulation of them is.

 

I also decided that it was quite similar to MAC Chatterbox (which is a good thing as Chatterbox is one of my favourite lipsticks), and looking at the comparisons below, I'd say they're not too far from each other -with Rouge Volupte having a slightly sheerer, creamier formulation than MAC.

 

The girl on the YSL counter also asked if my lips "were my own" (after saying they were a nice shape) - bit of an odd compliment, but I'll take it as a compliment I think! I know I've got a bit of a (all natural) trout pout so it wasn't too much of a surprising compliment.

 

Trout pout aside, I'm already saving up my Boots points to buy my next one...

 

Who knew H&M and Urban Outfitters sold things for your home?

H&M is one of those shops that I tend not to bother with so much - I don't know what it is about it, I just never really go and I think I own one thing from there (animal print harem pants that I saw my friend wearing and asked her to get me some). A couple of my friends work at H&M and always have lovely clothes they've found there but on the odd occassion I do venture in, I never really see much I like.

But, I digress. I didn't realise that H&M had branched out into homeware - I randomly stumbled across house stuff on their website (after being sent a H&M online 25% discount code), namely these shower curtains for £12.99 each:

And this lovely guest towel (2 pack) for £6.99:

As I suspected, I didn't find any actual clothes/accessories/cosmetics that I wanted to buy on the website.

I also spotted these gorgeous pillow sets for £25 from Urban Outfitters:

Can you tell that the one with the hands spells out LOVE? I had to shut my browser down quite quickly on the Urban Outfitters site there was a lot of nice (and pretty expensive) stuff for the home on there - I suppose I get 10% off student discount but this doesn't quite cut it when you're thinking of spending £25 on, basically, pillowcases. I don't think I've ever actually really been bothered about stuff for the home before either, it's made me feel a bit old!

P.S. Dont forget to enter my Hotel Chocolat Valentine's Giveaway here