Brow this way | Ayesha

A few weeks ago I blogged about a new brow gel by Rimmel called 'Brow this way.' I've had a good few weeks to try it out so I am now going to write a quick review about it to help inform you if you have been thinking of buying something like this!

First of all, it is a great dupe for Benefit's Speed Brow gel. They look very similar in that they both look like a short mascara tube, with different shades depending on your own eyebrow shade (I went for dark brown, their deepest shade, as I have black eyebrows naturally) but Benefit's speed brow is £13.99 - pricey considering you will use it every day! I used Speed Brow a long time ago but the deepest shade was not dark enough for my eyebrows, so I just finished off the tube and stuck to eyebrow pencils and clear mascara to fix them up after that. Here are my pros and cons list of Rimmel's version:

Pros:

1. Cheap at £3.99 from Boots or Superdrug.

2. Decent dark shade for the dark haired.

3. The formula is good quality as it lasted on my eyebrows all day.

Cons:

The only con I can think of is that the brush is a bit too big, so some of the formula gets on to the skin underneath my eyebrow. It can be cleaned away quite easily and quickly, however.

So, only one con, but for me personally the con might be a big one until my eyebrows grow out. I had them threaded 2 days ago and the lady did them TOO THIN! I loved having fuller eyebrows with an arch and I only wanted them tidied up as I am useless at plucking but she has rounded them off AND did I mention they are too thin for my liking?! Sigh. This, coupled with having to commute on the tubes from my new flat next week (I was lucky enough to live close enough to walk to work, which meant I had more time in the morning to look presentable) means that as much as I want a very quick brow product to aid my getting ready in the morning, I am not sure this product will deliver because of the big brush - perhaps I will extend this review next week? #firstworldproblems 

Despite all of this, I will continue to use this until it runs out as it is a very handy thing to have if you have good eyebrows and just want to neaten them up and give them the illusion that they are fuller very quickly. 

Now its time to have some lunch and then continue packing and cleaning! 

Seasonal favourites - Autumn (2/4) | Ayesha

You might remember when I posted during the summer featuring my beauty favourites from that season. Well, it's gone 3 months since then and I now have a new set of my favourite things for Autumn!

L-R:

1. Chanel Le Vernis in the shade 'April'.

2. Essie nail polish in 'Take it Outside'. Don't be put off by the grey colour, my husband coined it 'as natural looking as cement', but I think it is GORGEOUS. 

3. Barry M nail polish in 'Mustard'.

4. Garnier Ultimate Blends oil - this stuff is very light and smells amazing. 

5. MAC lipstick in the shade 'Plumful' - this is a pale berry shade and my new favourite lipstick shade ever! It's very wearable for every day use as it leaves a nice stain on the lips, and is super moisturising too.

6. MAC lipstick in 'Rebel'. I bought this in the summer but I'm getting more wear out of it now. It looks really scary and dark in the tube but when applied in a very thin layer, it looks how Plumful does in the tube. It can be built up for a very strong berry red shade with a purple undertone which is so satisfying.

7. Benefit Dallas blush. This is a mix of a bronzer and blusher, but it is more on the blusher side. It looks amazing in Autumn/Winter on my skin when I don't have a tan, but somehow when I do have a tan it makes my face look really red like I've just travelled on the tube at rush hour.

8. Lush Ultrabalm. Now this has all of 3 ingredients - organic jojoba oil (does anyone else have trouble pronouncing that? I always want to say 'jojoba' with an actual 'j' but I think its meant to be like 'yoyoba'. Both sound equally weird.) and 2 types of wax. So it doesn't smell great but it hydrates my skin really, really well and isn't greasy. I had a full face of makeup on 2 days ago and I was rushing around on the tube, and when I came home my face had a little bit of shine but not so much that I thought I couldn't use this on my face at all. 

So there you have it! My next installment will be in the spring, but spring is questionable in the UK... Might be May!

On a side note, I am moving to a new flat tomorrow and once I've settled in will be doing some more home-style blog posts, and also more baking/cooking ones. I don't know how I have survived without an oven this past year! 

Enjoy whatever you're doing!

The Wishlist - Charlotte Tilbury | Ayesha

Sigh.

Charlotte Tilbury is a relatively new makeup brand/person (as far as I am aware). I have tried on the colour coded eyeshadow palette in 'The Vintage Vamp', and it is BEAUTIFUL. You may think 'oh it's just an eyeshadow', but when you apply it, there is an amazing wash of colour, so pigmented and creamy with something a bit special about it, that I can't quite place my finger on. 

On my wishlist from her collection is the eyeshadow palette 'The Dolce Vita', here. 

Matte Revolution lipstick in Love Liberty, here.

Lip cheat re-shape and re-size lip liner in Pink Venus, here.

Sadly with these special items comes a special price, too! 

What will you be enjoying from her collection?

A little secret to gaining longer lashes | Ayesha

Two weeks ago, I decided to do a little experiment involving mascara and wearing none of it. I heard on the radio a long time ago that not wearing mascara for 2 weeks would improve the condition of your lashes so when you wear mascara again, they would be very voluminous. 

Before

After

After

As you can see in the before and after photos, it might be a very small difference (or perhaps you can't see any difference at all; however, in person I can!) but I feel that my lashes are now slightly longer and also a bit more fluttery. Both pictures were taken first thing in the morning with no makeup on, nor had I curled my eyelashes. 

In truth, the mascara challenge was difficult and I wore it on 2 occasions during those 2 weeks. However, I had gone a week and a half without wearing it the first time.

In comparison, Zahra also tried the no mascara challenge and completed the full 2 weeks. However, she felt there was no difference. I feel mine grew longer because I have been doing some extra things to help them along the way, but I promise these things are what I have been doing anyway for a few months!

1. I have been taking a multivitamin every day.
2. I have been applying coconut oil all over my face, including eyes, every night before bed.

With the combination of the three, perhaps giving my eyelashes a rest from mascara and nourishing them inside and out has helped them out.

Give it a try for yourself to see if it will work for you!

*Please make sure you're able to take multivitamins - check with someone first in case you're pregnant or have allergies! 

To subtle down the festive season - the nail way | Zahra

I don't really wear nail polish a lot purely because it frustrates me so much and my school practically hates it...but when I do wear it, it looks a little something like this.....

                              

                                            The Halloween nail:

                                            Ciate: 'wait until dark'

                                       Barry M: 'mango'-accent nail

   I originally opted for black and orange to go with the pumpkin look but then decided       that it's not the right time or me to wear black because well...I just didn't feel like it, so      I went for a dark, shimmery purple and an orange accent nail just to fit in with the                              pumpkin look (and I just really love orange)

Is it too early to think about Christmas?

I think not.

Now Christmas is the season where you get to wear garish jumpers and socks with pom poms and glitter and it still looks great, but I decided to tone it down a bit because we're not quite there with the months yet.

Barry M: 'crush'

Barry M: 'watermelon'-accent nail

The Chop | Zahra

My hair length

Me being an idiot

So I went to the hairdressers.....she cut a fair amount off.

What happened was she measured out an inch but (I actually measured this) instead cut off 5. I was super emotional (my exact words: 'I want my hair back', 'she cut it off', 'can I wear extensions?') because it had taken me about a year and a half to get it to the length I wanted it to be. I know that all of my split and dead ends have gone and that my hair can grow out to be healthier again but it didn't occur to me how quickly my hair actually grows. I've found a few hair growth tips to see if they help and hopefully I can have my old hair back (I'll probably have to re-ombre it too) :)

My Topshop Lipstick Collection | Zahra

 

Just to show what my TS lippies look like on.

Autumnal accents | Ayesha

Recently, after watching Essie Button's video on her favourite MAC lipsticks, I fell in love with the shade 'Plumful'. It looks like a fun berry/plum colour with pink undertones, and apparently looks different on everyone. That excited me. However, not being close to a MAC store and not being able to be for a while, I decided to tide myself by with a dupe. After trawling the internet to see what I could find, someone mentioned the Revlon lip butter in Berry Smoothie as a good alternative. So, I went to Boots to get it, much to the bemusement of the Mr.

Here's what I came back with:

Berry Smoothie layered over MAC Rebel lipstick

So the lip butter was slightly disappointing. It's a lovely colour, however it is very, very sheer. Even after building it up there was only a hint of colour, but not the same consistency as some other lip butters I own and definitely not the same as plumful. However I am still keeping it, because it looks lovely as a glossy overcoat to MAC Rebel lipstick (the one that looks dark purple in the tube!).

After I picked up Berry Smoothie, I naturally found myself scouring the aisles to see what else I could find. I owned a Soap and Glory 'Archery' eyebrow pencil, but sadly after travelling in my suitcase a lot it did not hold up well and I found the last 1/4 broken up in the lid. Hence the Rimmel Brow This Way eyebrow gel (the short dark brown tube in the haul picture). I would say this is a great dupe for Benefit's Speed Brow - in fact, even better than it! The gel is tinted, but I'll test it's longevity out properly on Monday after being out for 11 hours of the day.

The mascara is Seventeen's Va Va Voom. I have heard some good reviews on this as a cheaper mascara to add lots of volume. Again, will be testing it out on Monday properly.  I have been on the lookout for a cheaper mascara to add volume, to replace my favourite Lancome Hypnose, so I will let you know how it goes!

Check out the fat brush!

Lastly, this was a complete impulse buy. I've been intrigued by greyish colours but felt they may make my nails look dead (Barry M's Prickly Pear was a no-go for me sadly!). I was so impressed with this one and couldn't find a similar colour in any other brand:

Essie 'Take it Outside'

As my husband would say, it's 'as natural looking as cement'. I think it's very cute and quite smart for work. Can I just point out that the colour shown above is only ONE coat? 

I did spend last week with yellow nails which I thought were very fun but even some children in my class did double takes. Maybe I'll save it for the weekends...

Having said the above, this was another colour I thought would make my nails look dead but it was a surprisingly perky colour, but in person was not over bright. Mr F didn't even notice they were there! 

I'm loving all the Autumn stuff on the shelves at the moment. What are your favourite autumnal beauty colours to wear?

The Khloe Kardashian Look | Zahra

As it's turned Autumn (sort of...it's still getting up to about 17 degrees), I've been going heavier on the eyes rather than the lips and I saw a picture of Khloe Kardashian and I sort of just fell in love with her makeup.

I know it's not exactly the same, it's more inspired than copied.

I went for more of a nude lip, and a slightly smokier eye (from what I could tell from her photo) which is what shes wearing.

Eyes: 

Charlotte Tilbury 'The Vinyage Vamp'-the shimmery gold and the top right purple

Sleek 'Storm' palette- the dark brown (under my eyes)

Smashbox black eyeliner

Maybelline 'The Falsies' (top lashes)

YSL 'Mascara volume' (?) (it's just a little tester)

Eyebrows:

The dark brown from the Sleek 'Storm' palette

Face:

Collection 'Lasting Perfection' concealer-medium 2

Rimmel 'Wake me up' foundation-200 Soft Beige

Mac Studio Finish concealer-NW25 (under my eyes)

Barry M blush-206.

Lips:

Carmex

Who's excited for winter? Because I am!!!