It's the simple pleasures...

After today I think it's fair to say that I'm easily pleased. I'd been having a bit of a crappy Saturday. Having to write out Biology flash cards surprisingly isn't all that fun. But then a walk into Superdrug changed all that...

You have to understand I live in a tiny, tiny town. A tiny town with a tiny Boots and a tiny Superdrug. For months I've lusted over certain MUA products but alas, the diddy MUA stand had nothing to offer apart from a few cracked eyeshadows. When in Superdrug today I glanced down to where the MUA stand normally stood, and shock horror, it had vanished. It's fair to say I must have looked like a lunatic, staring these bottles of nail varnish remover where the stand had once stood, with a look of pure disgust/horror upon my face. Until five seconds later I looked around and saw a gleaming, shiny, spinning stand of MUA products! Complete with eyeprimers, palletes and 'lip booms' (whatever they're called) galore. 

Happiness also came at the Rimmel section. I'm sure you will all have seen many reviews on the new Rimmel eyeliners, but unfortunately the large majority of us aren't bloggers lucky enough to try the products before they hit the shelves. The temptation to start fist pumping  in celebration was hard to ignore. I picked up the nude and taupe versions, after hearing Vivianna talk about them.

With the MUA products came a free lipgloss, and with the Rimmel products a free eyeliner! What with Superdrug's 10 points to a pound offer when using their loyalty cards, I left there a very happy bunny. What with all these new products expect lots of reviews soon! Six products came to a total of £13.48, which makes me feel slightly less guilty about spending money on non essential items... 

I'm sorry this was sort of a nothingy post, but the Biology revision is calling me back. Hope you're having a better weekend than me, if not pop into Superdrug for some retail therapy ;) Also, any Doctor Who fans, prepare your tissues for tonight! (nerd and proud)

Love you all!

Abbie

Rimmel Glam Eyes Eyeshadow

Rimmel eyeshadows have never really attracted my attention before. I usually buy eyeshadows in palettes but  this colour was too gorgeous to pass over. It looks like a plain old shimmery brown but somehow it's so much more... Maybe I'm looking into this too deep! Smokey Quartz just caught my eye.

Like a said before, a shimmery, cool toned brown. But what I love about this is that it is light enough to be worn all over the lid. At 7.00 in the morning when I'm getting ready for college, it is rare I can be bothered to  be blending multiple colours over my eyes. I can apply all over my lid and be done with it.

The shadow is buttery smooth, nicely pigmented, and easy to blend. All for the price £4.49, lovely! I always use an eyeshadow base, there's just no point applying them otherwise with my oily lids. Used over a MAC Paint Pot, my usual choice of base, it lasts all day.

As for the packaging, it's simple, strong, easy to store. Easy to see the product inside. There is a bit of unneeded plastic going on there but otherwise it's all good.

Have any of you tried Rimmel's eyeshadows? Do you prefer to buy single shadows or palettes?

Abbie

And we're caught within the crossfire of love

Here with a face of the day. This is my first, I think with every FOTD I may link to a song I've been loving lately at the end, just to make it a bit different! Tell me below if you like that idea :) Doing this post certainly made me realise how much makeup I wear. It was slightly worrying!

Firstly, it has to be said, I apologise for the appalling state of my eyebrows. Please try and ignore them!

Face:

Revlon Colorstay Foundation (180 Sand Beige), Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (Light, 2), Collection Sheer Loose Powder (2, translucent), Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil (002 Hazel), MUA Clear Mascara, MUA Blusher (shade 2)

Eyes:

Mac Paint Pot (Rubenesque), Rimmel Glam Eyes Eyeshadow (030 Smokey Quartz, review coming soon!), Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner (black, in tightline), L'Oreal Paris Super Liner Perfect Slim (Intense Black)

Lips:

Collection Cream Puff Lip Cream (Cotton Candy), Barry M limited edition lip gloss

(Any reviews of products I've done, I've linked)

Today's song is Crossfire by Brandon Flowers. A few days ago this was played on the radio, ever since them I've been obsessed! Sometimes it's nice to be reminded of old songs you used to love.

Abbie

Rimmel Blush: Santa Rose

I'm very much a blush newbie. I have quite red cheeks so previously I've always stayed away from any sort of blush, wanting to take colour out of my cheeks rather than add it back in. Now I use a fuller coverage foundation (Revlon Colorstay for those interested) I can take out some of the the redness in my face. At first I thought this was a good thing, but now I think I need to bring back in some subtle colour and warmth to my face. Into the foray of blusher I go!

I've heard a few reviews about this Rimmel blush. It was quite inexpensive, and seemed pretty reasonable so I gave it a try. After a few weeks giving a go, I just don't think it's for me. It's a great product, but just not me. 

(I apologise for the odd angle and shadow, it was the best way to get an accurate representation of the colour!)

It has an okay pigmentation,  I did have to swatch quite hard to get the opaqueness shown above. In the pan it looks a little shimmery, but when swatched in Superdrug none of the shimmer seemed to show through. Sadly this isn't the case when applied, it is quite glittery. I am much more fond of matte blushes (the whole oily skin thing, I'm sure you're all sick of me mentioning it). On much paler skin I think this blush may work, but on me it just turns out with no colour and all glitter.

The packaging is pretty good for the price (somewhere in the region of £3.00, correct me if I'm wrong!). It is simple but strong, sturdy and slim. Perfect for travelling.

In summation, if you are pale, definitely give this a go! I think this may be one of the products that sits at the back of the draw unused, not because it's bad, but because it's just not for me. Maybe I'll give some of the darker colours ago.

Let me know what you think of the Rimmel blushes! Any colour recommendations, leave them below!

NB: I haven't been posting that frequently lately (not that I was brilliant before!) due to having started college. I have quite a lot of work and have to travel a lot which doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging! On Thursdays I finish early so I'm trying to post then. Hopefully I'll be able to do a few more posts than just that, but if I have a schedule I know at least one blog post will go up a week. I hope if you're back at school/college/uni then you're not getting too bogged down with work!

Abbie

Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil

I've never really done much to my eyebrows, I always pluck them, but aside from that I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to the brow area. Until a few weeks or so ago when I realised that actually, my brows are a little bit sparse at the front. Up until now any sort of eyebrow filling in has always scared me, I was always worried about ending up looking silly with too heavy brows!

Sammi always talks about this pencil, and seeing as it was so inexpensive (£2.99, correct me if I'm wrong) I thought I may as well give it a try. Oh how glad am I that I did!

This is just such a good product!

The shade (002 Hazel) matches me so well, which surprised me as initially I thought it might be a bit dark or too warm for my brows. It's a really soft pencil which makes it so very easy to blend. I think this is probably what makes it such an amazing product. I very, very lightly fill in the front of my brows and then blend it with my finger or the comb on the lid. This gives it such natural look. I don't feel as though my brows have been filled in, just given a bit of subtle definition. It lasts literally all day. When coming back from the paralympics I was so tired I only roughly removed my eye makeup, and by the morning my brows were exactly as they were at the start of the day! Impressive! The eyebrow comb is brilliant, it has very stiff bristles. 

And so the moral of the story is, try new things! But seriously, I'm surprised I'm getting along so well with this pencil after being so wary of anything brow related in the beginning. Now I actually feel like my face is incomplete without touching up my brows a bit!

Do any of you like brow pencils? Filling your brows in with powder? Or do you have a brow filling in phobia like I did?!

Abbie

Collection Blush and Highlight Cream Duo

It's not very often in the drugstore that you see cream blushes and highlighters, so when I saw this little product sitting on the shelf in Superdrug I picked it up immediately. One of Collection's newest products, this duo comes in two shades, with seemingly the same highlighter, but with different blushes. I picked up Peaches & Cream. 

At first the blush colour seems intimidatingly bright, but when applied it is actually a very nice subtle, peachy colour. The highlighter, to be honest, isn't all that great. When blended out there is very little actual shimmer, just glitter, giving you more of a 'nine year old at a school disco' look than the more preferable 'natural glow'. Both colours don't blend too smoothly, they have quite a waxy texture, but they're still workable. When I first started to apply them I thought they were going to be quite sticky, but that soon goes once you start blending. The blush dries to quite a matte finish.

The staying power isn't terrible, it hangs around for a fair few hours before fading, but this is only to be expected with a cream blush. However I think the plus side of cream blushes is that they are then easier to reapply quickly on the go. If you want to make it last a bit longer, then I recommend setting with a powder blush. 

The packaging is pretty standard but sturdy. I feel I can just chuck it in my make up bag and not have to worry about it breaking. There's not masses of product, but for the price it is quite reasonable. At Superdrug these are currently at an introductory price of £2.99, so if you want to give them a try, now is the time to buy!

Overall, it's not a bad product, I am quite pleased with the blush, even if the highlighter wasn't too brilliant. I probably wouldn't repurchase, but I'm glad I gave it a go! I like the concept of having a 2-in-1 product, it makes travelling with it easier.

Will you be giving the duo a go?

Abbie

The Body Shop Cucumber Cleansing Milk

My sister recently bought The Body Shop Cucumber Cleansing Milk, so I decided to give it a sneaky try. Wow, I am glad I did! It's not very often I am excited by skincare, I tend to think of it more as a chore than something I enjoy, but this is an exception. 

This light green, thick, creamy cleanser is amazing at removing make up. It thoroughly cleanses the skin and leaves literally no make up behind. I find it quite moisturising, but not overly so. My skin is never left feeling tight. I squeeze a small amount into my hand, spread it over my face and then rub in circular motions. After, I remove with either water or a cotton pad. As it is a very thick consistency I thought I would need quite a large amount to properly clean my face, but surprisingly this is not the case.

For those of you who are not fans of cucumber, there is only a very light smell to the product, so unless you really detest cucumber you will probably won't find it too offensive! For The Body Shop I'm surprised at the price, £4.00 for 250ml is very reasonable in my eyes. 

What are some of your favourite cleansers/methods of removing make up?

Abbie