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!

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?