My Make Up Staples

I thought it was time to show you what I mean when I say my staple products. Although sometimes I vary them a bit (eg. if I need waterproof mascara or a foundation with less coverage), but generally these are the products I reach for most often nowadays.

Guerlain Blanc de Perle foundation in 02 Beige Clair. Guerlain Divine Pressed Powder (this is an oldie!), Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Mac highlighting palette (homemade and no idea which shades it contains), Cargo Last Activator mascara in black and Mac Brow Set in Show Off,

So now you know what I mean when I say my staples.

Mac Tropical Taboo Mineralize Collection for Summer 2013 Promo Pictures!

Finally we have promo pictures of the upcoming Mac Tropical Taboo collection. I was loving it before I saw the pictures, but I'm loving it even more so!

Due to be released in July in the US (and I'm guessing August in the UK), here are the collection details:

Mineralize Lipsticks

• Lady at Play – Mid-tone cool tangerine
• Divine Choice – Mid-tone cool pink cream
• Midnight Mambo – Intense violet
• Luxe Naturale – Light beige cream
• Glamour Era – Mid-tone warm brown frost

Cremesheen Glass

• Calypso Beat –Pale neutral pink
• Fever Isle – Bright red coral
• Japanese Spring – Pale mid-tone pink
• Narcissus – Mid-tone eggplant

Lip Pencil

• Hip ‘n’ Happy – Mid-tone blue pink
• Have to Have It – Soft warm beige
• Heroine – Bright purple
• Ablaze – Bright apricot

Mineralize Skinfinish

• Adored – Coral with light beige pearlized pigments
• Rio – Bronze with bright pink pearlized pigments
• Lust – Pale pink with cranberry pearlized pigments
• Soft ‘n Gentle (permanent) – Gilded peach bronze
• Gold Deposit (permanent) – Soft reflective golden bronze

Mineralize Blush

• Sweet Samba –Dark pink with tan pearlized pigments
• Exotic Ember – Orange with bronze pearlized pigments
• Simmer – Burnt rose with peach/gold pearlized pigments

Mineralize Eyeshadow

• Dare to Bare – Light cream with gold pearlized pigments
• Carribean – Rose with pink and red pearlized pigments
• Cha-Cha-Cha – Deep blue green with green pearlized pigments
• Time to Tango – Lavendar with silver pearlized pigments
• Bossa Blue – Royal blue with brown pearlized pigments
• Tropica – Silver blue with purple pearlize pigments

Kohl Power Eye Pencil

• Feline – Rich Black
• Orpheus – Intense black with gold pearlized pigments

Brush

• 187 Brush – Duo fibre face brush
• 159 Brush – Duo fibre face brush
• 287 Brush – Duo fibre eyeshadow brush

In Extreme Dimension Lash

• Black

See lots more promo and individual product pictures after the jump!

Want It! Mac Tropical Taboo Mineralize Collection for Summer 2013

I was so excited to find out about Mac's upcoming mineralize collection, I had to share the news with you straight away! I love mineralize products and this collection has a lot of new goodies for me to look forward to.I'm mostly interested in the mineralize skinfinishes, blushes and eyeshadows, but there are also some mineralize lipsticks, cremesheen glasses, lip pencils and other goodies included in this collection.

Not actual promo picture

Due to be released in July in the US (and I'm guessing August in the UK), here are the collection details:

Mineralize Lipsticks

• Lady at Play – Mid-tone cool tangerine
• Divine Choice – Mid-tone cool pink cream
• Midnight Mambo –Intense violet
• Luxe Naturale – Light beige cream
• Glamour Era – Mid-tone warm brown frost

Cremesheen Glass

• Calypso Beat –Pale neutral pink
• Fever Isle – Bright red coral
• Japanese Spring - Pale mid-tone pink
• Narcissus – Mid-tone eggplant

Lip Pencil

• Hip ‘n’ Happy – Mid-tone blue pink
• Have to Have It – Soft warm beige
• Heroine – Bright purple
• Ablaze – Bright apricot

Mineralize Skinfinish

• Adored – Coral with light beige pearlized pigments
• Rio – Bronze with bright pink pearlized pigments
• Lust – Pale pink with cranberry pearlized pigments
• Soft ‘n Gentle (permanent) – Gilded peach bronze
• Gold Deposit (permanent) – Soft reflective golden bronze

Mineralize Blush

• Sweet Samba –Dark pink with tan pearlized pigments
• Exotic Ember – Orange with bronze pearlized pigments
• Simmer- Burnt rose with peach/gold pearlized pigments

Mineralize Eyeshadow

• Dare to Bare – Light cream with gold pearlized pigments
• Carribean –Rose with pink and red pearlized pigments
• Cha-Cha-Cha – Deep blue green with green pearlized pigments
• Time to Tango- Lavendar with silver pearlized pigments
• Bossa Blue – Royal blue with brown pearlized pigments
• Tropica - Silver blue with purple pearlize pigments

Kohl Power Eye Pencil

• Feline – Rich Black
• Orpheus – Intense black with gold pearlized pigments

Brush

• 187 Brush – Duo fibre face brush
• 159 Brush - Duo fibre face brush
• 287 Brush - Duo fibre eyeshadow brush

In Extreme Dimension Lash

• Black

Credit goes to Maneater Makeup

How To Wear Coloured Eyeliner?

When the news about the Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil Vault emerged, I read a few comments from people saying they don't normally wear coloured eyeliner because they don't know how to. So I thoght I'd put together a little post to show you a few ideas on how to wear coloured eyeliner. All pictures are clickable and will take you to the post they were originally posted in, so you can also see full face pictures.

I'd say there are 3 ways of using coloured eyeliner. One is to make an otherwise simple look pop. In the picture above I used black and beige eyeshadows, so I added a purple eyeliner on my bottom lashline to make it pop. In the picture below I used a gold eyeshadow and added purple eyeliner on both the top lashline (liquid) and the bottom lashline (pencil).

See more pictures and ideas on how to wear coloured eyeliner after the jump!

Want It! Laura Mercier Folklore Collection for Summer 2013

I like the look of the upcoming Laura Mercier summer collection, especially the Illuminating Eye Colours. I have 4 of the previous ones (as in all 4), if you want to read about them, click here. The new colours seem quite similar, but may well be different enough to buy. The texture of these eyeshadows is really lovely, similar to the Mac Extra Dimension shades, but even better.

I also like the look of the lip crayons and the baked blush bronze.

Here are the collection details:

Illuminating Eye Colour

Eye colour with a multi-dimensional, luminous pearl finish with a soft, bouncy texture for excellent colour pay-off and a smooth, even application.

• Fire Glow – copper shimmer
• Sun Glow – gold with shimmer
• Earth Glow – deep brown

Lip Crayon

A smooth lip colour that provides pure, long-wearing colour to lips in three on-trend shades for summer. With a convenient purse-friendly package, Lip Crayon never needs sharpening, making it perfect for travel and touch-ups on the go.

• Folklore – fuchsia
• Maya Sun – orange pink
• Burnt Clay – deep brown

Baked Blush Bronze

Laura Mercier Baked Blush Bronze is a baked powder with five complimentary shades that together provide the perfect, natural colour for cheeks and face. Each tile is hand-mixed with a unique design.

Creme Eye Liner 

An ultra-smooth, water-proof creamy eye liner that applies with the ease and smooth silky finish of a gel and the precision of a liquid liner. Smudge and transfer-resistant, this long-wearing formula goes on “foolproof” with the Laura Mercier Angled Eye Liner Brush.

• Canard – teal
• Cobalt – vivid midtone blue

Faux Lash Mascara

• Sierra Brown – chocolate brown
• Black – black

Long Lash Mascara

• Bleu – true cobalt

Angled Eye Liner Brush

Specifically designed by Laura Mericer to work with the Crème Eye Liner, the Angled Eye Liner Brush uses high quality synthetic fibers in a narrow, exact point with a thin profile that creates the most precise looks.

Body Bronzing Makeup

Available for a limited time, Laura Mercier Body Bronzing Makeup instantly reveals healthy, radiant, bronzed skin without long-term commitment.

See more pictures after the jump!

Want It! L'Ete Papillon de Chanel Collection Summer 2013

Another summer collection that's caught my eye is the upcoming Chanel collection, L'Ete Papillon de Chanel. I love butterflies, so anything with them in their pictures is usually a winner for me. The first ever Guerlain collection I bought from was the Midnight Butterfly collection (holiday 2008).

This collection is rather unusual, it features a lot of coloured mascaras, cream eyeshadow sticks and several bright nail polishes. I think it's a brilliant summer collection, I love blue, teal and green for summer, as well as coral and yellow. I'm not entirely sure if I'll get many things from this collection, it all depends on the quality of the cream eyeshadow sticks, but the blue and teal nail polishes will definitely come home with me.

Here are the details of the collection:

• Inimitable Waterproof Mascara 
• Black
• Zest 
• Limelight
• Aqua Blue 
• Blue Note
• Le Vernis 
• Lilis 
• Azure 
• Bel-Argus
• Levres Scintillantes 
• Zephyr 
• Envolee 
• Eden
• Rouge Coco Shine 
• Idylle 
• Pygmalion
• Stylo Eyeshadow 
• Moon River 
• Cool Gold 
• Pink Lagoon 
• Jade Shore 
• Blue Ray 
• Black Stream
• Stylo Yeux Waterproof in True Blue

See lots more pictures after the jump!

Lancome Hypnose Custom Wear Volume Mascara and Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Base

I've had these two samples for ages and finally got around to trying them (over a month ago!). Anyway, I have even managed to type up this review now, so better later than never, I guess.

Lancome Hypnose Custom Wear Volume Mascara

I usually stick with my favourite mascaras, Guerlain Le 2 and Givenchy Phenomen'eyes, but of course I'm always happy to try out new ones. I have heard a lot of positives about Lancome mascaras, so I thought I'd give these a go.

Cils Booster XL is a white mascara base that helps to prime and protect your lashes, and enhance your eye make up. You basically use it under your mascara. I have found it very good for giving a bit more volume and length, although I can't really comment on exactly how it's helped to protect my lashes as I've only used it a few times. As much as I like it, I never have time to use it in the mornings.

Hypnose Custom Wear Volume Mascara in Noir Hypnotic is a volumising mascara and it also gives my lashes quite good length. I like it very much, the brush is very easy to use, it's a nice size with good bristles and the formula is just right too. I really cannot fault it. I have found that I get more volume with the mascara base under this mascara, but even alone it's very good. I haven't had any problems with clumping, smudging or flaking at all.


You can see two pictures of me wearing the base and the mascara at the bottom of this post, but if you'd like to see full face pictures and the breakdown for the looks, click on the pictures.

The full size versions of these products cost £21 for 5.5 ml (Cils Booster XL) and £22 for 6.5 g (Hypnose Custom Wear Volume Mascara).

See more pictures after the jump!

Guerlain Cils D'Enfer Maxi Lash Mascara 01 Noir

Guerlain has released a new mascara this spring (winter) and it comes in two shades, black and violet. I have a small sample tube that I was sent with my order of the new eyeshadows (more on them later), so I gave it a try.

Cils D'Enfer is supposed to create maximum volume, curl and hold. It has a fairly dense brush with traditional style bristles. I think it's actually pretty similar to the Noir G mascara wand. I have found it to be more lengthening than volumising, although it does give my lashes some volume too. I don't think it's as amazing as Guerlain claim it is, but it's a nice enough mascara. The formula is nice, lightweigh, doesn't smudge or flake. My lashes are naturally quite curly and it certainly doesn't weigh them down.

The mascara has the same rosey scent as the Noir G mascara which fades pretty quickly after application and doesn't irritate my eyes at all. I believe the full size mascara is 8 ml, mine is a tiny 1.5 ml, and it retails for £22.

To be honest, I'm not sure I will buy the full size one, although I like it, my favourite Guerlain mascaras are still the Le 2 ones. They are a little more expensive at £25, but they really do give my lashes both volume and length. Hope that with all the new mascaras Guerlain has been releasing lately, they won't discontinue the Le 2 line.

See more pictures after the jump!

2012 Favourties - Part 2: Eyes

I buy and wear a lot of eyeshadows, eyeliners and mascaras, that is one thing I don't think I'll ever be able to stop. I have very undefined eyes, so I cannot be without eyeliner and mascara, eyeshadows are more of the fun part, I really enjoy playing with colours and have got pretty good at doing quite fancy looks.

I'll start with eyeshadows. One of the brands I mostly raved on about on here in 2012 is L'Oreal, I love their Infallible eyeshadows. Nowadays I tend to gravitate towards high end eyeshadows, but every so often cheaper brands that come out with something amazing and I'm not that much of a snob not to check them out. I did a series of reviews as I bought 20 shades of them, here's the recap post that is linked to all the reviews.

My other favourite eyeshadows that I often compare the L'Oreal Infallibles to were Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill and Chanel Illusion D'Ombre eyeshadows. You can find several reviews of these on the blog as well, just do a search. I loved the Infallible eyeshadows most for their affordableness and big colour selection (although we don't get quite as many in the UK, but thank God for eBay and US sellers).

Carry on reading after the jump to discover which other products I loved in 2012!

Want It: Guerlain Spring 2013 Collection

I'm really excited about seeing the promo pictures and details of the Guerlain Spring 2013 collection, so I thought I'd quickly share them with you. Firstly, another gorgeous promo picture featuring the lovely Natalia Vodianova. Can't help but wonder how photoshopped those eyelashes are though...

So there is a new mascara coming out, it's a volume creating, curl sculpting mascara.

Cils d’Enfer – Maxi Lash (£22)

• 01 Noir
• 02 Violet

The secret of this brush is all in the three polymers. “The first one wraps the lashes in extremely adherent oils, coating and thickening the lashes. The second one, made with supple waxes, acts like a conditioner, softening the lashes so you can sculpt them into just the right shape and style. The last one forms a thin film, coating the lashes to trap the wax and set the amazing curve.”

This mascara also has an innovative brush which is described the following way:” full, round brush caresses each lash to thicken and lengthen at will. The volumising effect is accentuated by the new generation hollow fibres, capable of dispensing just the right amount of mascara with each stroke. Cleverly placed in a criss-cross pattern, they carefully separate the lashes and spread the rich formula without clumping.”

The other products in the collection are as follows:

Ecrin 4 Couleurs Long-Lasting Eyeshadows (£38)

• 501 Attrape-Coeur - mauve, violet, white illuminate, prima donna purple
• 502 Coup de Foudre - green, silvery patina, bronze-khaki, vibrant coral

Eyeliner (£24.50)
 
Ebony black liner with an ultra-thin tip (I think this is permanent actually).

Météorites Perles du Paradis (£43)

New Limited Edition of Meteorites come in XXL size with a pink powder puff with a black bow on top. These Meteorites come in a box adorned with an illustration of a boudoir. The pearles come in six shades.

Rouge Automatique Lipstick (£24.50)

• 601 Romance
• 600 Ballade

Shine Automatique Lipstick (£24.50)

• 762 Rendez-vous
• 761 Flirt

Kiss Kiss Gloss (£24.50)

• 870 Cherry Pink (repromote, see swatches here)
• 849 Fizzy Mango (repromote, see swatches here)

This collection will be out in January.

Pictures and information source

See lots more pictures after the jump!

Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Review and Swatches

I have another pretty palette from Too Faced to show you, this time it's the Shadow Bon Bons palette. This one is also a very good value offering. Of course it's not just abut value, it's also the quality that counts. Luckily this is also a great quality palette. Well done Too Faced!

Shadow Bon Bons contains 12 eyeshadows, a trial size Candlelight Shadow Insurance primer and a full size LashGASM mascara. I have to admit, I actually bought this palette for just one of the eyeshadows (and the fact that I got £17 worth of points on my Advantage Card in Boots when I spent £50). I'm happy to say that all the eyeshadows in the palette are actually very nice, with the exception of Nude Beach which has quite bad fallout, although it's a pretty shade. This palette isn't as colourful as the Sweet Indulgences palette, so better for those who prefer neutral looks, but there's still plenty of variety in there. Not just colourwise, but also regarding the finishes, there are matte, metallic and shimmery shades.

Some of the shades in this palette can also be found in the Sweet Indulgences palette (Peach Fuzz and Lovey Dovey) and I'm pretty sure I've come across some of the others before too, but this is such a nice, comprehensive set, and not too bulky to travel with either.

The Candlelight Shadow Insurance primer has a nice golden sheen, so it's great under shimmery shadows. It grabs onto eyeshadows and makes them stay vibrant and creaseless all day long. The LashGASM mascara gives me nice lenght, although not much volume. It has those plastic bristles/spikes I like and the brush is a nice size, not too big at all. The formula is pretty nice too.

All in all, a great set and well worth the £33 price tag. According to Beauty Bay the value of this set is £130. It contains 10.8 g eyeshadows which is £95 value, plus the full size (12 ml) LashGASM mascara £16.50, and the 5 g Candlelight Shadow Insurance primer is an extra £7.50 value, which makes it £119 in my books, but either way, it's great value.

Have you bought anything from Too Faced's holiday collection yet? Or are you waiting for Santa to bring you something nice? Let me know in the comments! Also see if you can guess which one is my favourite shade in this palette? And which one is yours?

See lots more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Bargain Beauty Find: Cargo Lash Activator Review

A little while ago I noticed that having stopped using Rapidlash some months ago my eyelashes have gone back to their original lenght (ie they are very short), so when I noticed a shelf with reduced products in Boots, I decided to try out Cargo Last Activator mascara.

Unlike Rapidlash this is not a serum, but an actual black mascara that you can use on its own or under your regular mascara. It is supposed to "promote lash vitality", which I understand as help make your lashes longer and stronger.

I have been using it in conjunction with Rapidlash, on its own without another mascara on top. It has a long wand with a very flexible brush head and plastic spikes. They separate my lashes well. The formula is a little show drying and it smudges on me if there is much humidity in the air, I often have to wipe it from under my eyes. It's not too bad, but certainly not as good as my favourite mascaras from Guerlain (Le 2 and Noir G) and Givenchy (Phenom'eyes). It's an okay formula, but doesn't curl my lashes at all, and it doesn't really make them look very full or long. Okay, I know, it's not a miracle worker, but still.

I can't really comment on whether it has helped with the growth of my lashes as I've only been using it for about 3 weeks and I'm using it with Rapidlash, but my lashes haven't been falling out and they do look a little longer than when I started using it.

I was very lucky to have picked this up for £2.50 because it actually retails for £20 (it was up on the Boots website when I last looked but it isn't right now), but maybe that particular branch was not carrying the Cargo line anymore. To be honest, I'd say it's a good mascara for £2.50, but not for £20. I certainly wouldn't pay full price for it. If I wanted to spend £20 on a mascara I'd buy a Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara or a refill for my Guerlain Noir G mascara.

I haven't included any pictures of me wearing this on my lashes, but basically every eye look I've done in the past 2 weeks will have featured it, so take a look at my previous posts.

See more pictures after the jump!

Guerlain Le 2 de Guerlain Mascara - 14 Blu 2 Pucci

This is the last product I picked up from the Guerlain summer collection. Possibly the most expensive mascara I own, but I love Guerlain's Le 2 mascara range so much, I think they are well worth the money. 14 Blu 2 Pucci is a beautiful purple-blue shade, very similar in colour to Riviera nail polish. Such a gorgeous, gorgeous shade, even if you don't "do" blue mascara, check this out.

If you don't know what's so different about Guerlain Le 2 mascaras, then let me explain. They're called Le 2 de Guerlain because they have two ends, one with spiky plastic bristles for the upper lasher that gives fantastic length and great volume to my thin, short lashes, and another little one with spiral bristles for the tiny lower lashes. The formula's lovely, doesn't clump, flake or smudge. These mascaras are not scented unlike the Noir G de Guerlain mascara, so may suit those better who don't like their eye make up scented. As I said these are one of my favourite mascaras.

Because this is a special edition colour, the mascara comes in a dark brown tube and you have the same Pucci prints inside the black outer box as you do with the other products in this collection. My pictures don't show the true colour, it's slightly more purple, but my camera is incapable of picking up purples sadly.

Guerlain Le 2 mascaras are pricy, they cost £25 and for that you get 7.6 ml which is a generous size. The summer collection is still available if you fancy picking this up for yourself.

See more pictures after the jump!

Giveaway Time! Help Celebrate Our 3rd Birthday! *CLOSED*

As you know, Pleasurefush has just turned 3, so I thought let's celebrate it with a giveaway! I have put together a bunch of products that I think you'll like.

One person will be chosen randomly and will win the products listed below:

• KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in #09 Nile Green *full size*
• The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara in #01 Black *full size*
• Nails Inc. Nail Polish in Emerald Street *full size*
• Max Factor Mac Effect Mini Nail Polish in Fantasy Fire *full size*
• Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Badge
• Chanel Chance Eau De Parfum 2 ml sample
• Marc Jacobs Oh, Lola! Eau De Parfum 1.2 ml sample
• Valentino Valentina Eau De Parfum 1.5 ml sample

To win the above goodies all you have to do is be a follower of my blog via GFC (new followers are very welcome) and post a comment below with your e-mail address. For up to 2 extra entries you can also follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway (make sure you include me @Anitacska in your tweet) and/or post a link to the giveaway on your blog (make sure you let me know the link as I will be checking). You can do both or either for one extra entry each.

Remember, you MUST be a follower via GFC or none of your entries will count! You must also leave a comment below with your e-mail address to enter. The giveaway is open worldwide! The giveaway closes at midnight (UK time) on Saturday 14th July 2012. Good luck!

Mac Haute & Naughty Lash Mascara

This is my first ever mascara from Mac, I got this as a gift with purchase a while ago and after finishing my Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara, I decided to give it a try and see for myself how good it is (or not). I have already worn it in one of the FOTD posts I've done lately, so click here to see what it looks like on my lashes.

The mascara is a weird double one, it has a two-in-one wand. I don't really know how it works exactly, but if you only screw off the pink end, then you get a thinner wand with less coated bristles, but if you screw off both the pink and purple together, then you get a thicker wand with thoroughly coated bristles. It's one wand, but I think the width of the hole you pull it through determines how much mascara coats the brush. Check out the pictures below to see what I mean.

Neither of the options work very well for me, it either takes several goes to coat my lashes properly or it makes my lashes stick together and the mascara clump. If I use the thinner end, it does a good job of separating my lashes at least. I prefer the spikey brushes instead of these bristley ones for separating my lashes to be honest. It gives quite good volume and length, but it's not my favourite mascara for either. I find it too hard work and I've not been reaching for it when I'm in a rush, simply because it takes a while to apply.

The formula wasn't the best for me either. It smudged on me, especially under my lower lashline, which is practically unheard of, none of the other mascaras I've tried smudged on me. It's very black which is nice, but equally it takes some work to wash it off. It's not waterproof at all, but you need a good make up remover to take it off properly.

This mascara costs £18.00 and you get 9 g which is pretty generous. The other good thing about it is that when you're finished you can take the empty tube to Mac and you get a free lipstick for 6 empties. I think it's too expensive for what it is and I know that Rimmel does a very similar mascara for half the price (although I haven't tried it myself), so that might be a better option. I'm personally happy I didn't pay for this.

See more pictures after the jump!

This Month I...

Rather than just doing a post about products I've finished this month, I've decided to do more of a summary of the last month and all beauty related happenings. So here we go.

Last month I...

• finished 3 products. It's been a slow month, what can I say? At least it's more than nothing, eh? One of the products finished was Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara which I really enjoyed using and would definitely consider repurchasing if I didn't already own 20+ mascaras. It also lasted for ages, I don't even remember when I first started using it, it didn't go bad or dry out, just simply ran out eventually. 
• have overspent by about £250 again. I think I should just up my budget, because it's clearly too low. Or maybe buy less make up and spend less money. (Crazy talk, I know.)
• have bought another lorry load of nail polishes. I know I'm crazy, I have been buying nail polish all the time, but there are so many pretty colours! I have also discovered a couple of brands (namely Glitter Gal and A-England) I'd not heard about before and they both happened to be holographic nail polishes which is my weakness. 

Here are some pictures of the pretty polishes I bought in April (some reviews will follow eventually, let me know in the comments which ones you're interested in the most). First up, A-England holo polishes:

Princess Tears, Lady Of The Lake, Ascalon, Tristram, Princess Sabra

See lots more pictures after the jump!

Where Did My Eyelashes Go, RapidLash?

So a couple of months ago I wrote a post on how great my eyelashes were looking after 3 months of using Rapidlash. Sadly, that was in the past. I noticed a few weeks ago while taking off my make up at night that my nice long eyelashes started to fall out. Some nights as many as 4-5 ended up in the sink to my horror. And this is how my eyelashes are looking now (well on the 18th February to be precise):

While they are still longer and thicker than they were when I initially started using RapidLash, they are nowehere near how they were after 3 months of usage. Here it is for comparison:

I know eyelashes fall out and re-grow all the time, but I was expecting to see so many fall out at once. I also found that more fell out from my right eye than left one, so my eyelashes are looking a bit silly at the moment. Not a massive difference, but I can definitely see it. So why did it happen? I have no idea. I'm also not sure if I should continue using RapidLash or not. At one point I was scared all my eyelashes will fall out, although luckily they didn't and I noticed I had lots of new stumpy ones instead of the long ones. But the thing is, I don't really want to end up with wonky eyelashes in another 3-4 months' time. Also having to fork out £41 on a tube that gave me longer eyelashes for a few months, just to be back to square 1 (okay, 2), is not really great. I thought once I've achieved a nice length and thickness, I can maintain it with 2-3 applications a week, but now I have to do it daily again to re-grow my new stumpy lashes. While I'm not keen on going back to my original lashes (they do look tiny in the comparison photos), I'm also not happy to have to go through losing and re-growing my lashes every 4-5 months. Sigh.

Has this happened to anyone else? Let me know in the comments!

See more photos after the jump!

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara in 06 ExtremeTeal

I bought this mascara when I first picked up some of the Estee Lauder Cyber Eyes eyeshadows, but it's taken me this long to review it. I believe this shade is limited edition, but I've just checked and it's still available, so I thought I'd do this review anyway. Especially because this is actually a very good mascara.

I like my coloured mascara, but sometimes they don't show up on my brown lashes, however this teal coloured mascara actually shows up really nicely. It also gives good lenght and volume, plus I loved how it curled my lashes. I don't use lash curlers because my lashes are naturally curly, but they looked especially amazing when wearing this mascara. It also didn't smudge or flake and stayed on all though the day, yet it wasn't hard to remove.

It is massive though, both the tube and also the wand, but it's a good shape and I didn't find it hard to use. You get 8 ml for £22, which is about the same as other high end brands. If you don't want colourful mascara, this also comes in black and brown. I would definitely recommend this one!

See more pictures after the jump!

Finished! The January Edition

Finally, January is over. Is it just me or did it feel like the longest month ever? I was really willing it to be over for a few reasons. Firstly, I want spring to come. I've had enough of the dark afternoons and mornings, I want it to be daylight when I get up and daylight when I'm cooking dinner by my south-west facing kitchen window. I want flowers in the garden, cherry blossoms on the trees down the street. Secondly, I couldn't wait for Guerlain's spring collection to be finally released. And thirdly, I'd already exceeded my monthly beauty budget by the middle of the month and I desperately needed it to be February to start again. Sadly it has turned really cold in the UK, so there's no sign of spring yet unfortunately.

At least, with January being such a long month (or at least it felt like it), I've managed to finish a few products, so there are some positives there too. A lot of the products I finished this month I have reviewed on here at some point, so I will just link them to the reviews instead of repeating myself.

First though here's something I've not reviewed before, this is Avon Skin So Soft Signature Silk Nourishing Body Cream. I used to buy lots of Avon products a while ago, and I'm still finishing some of them off. This particular body cream sadly isn't a good example of Avon's good quality products. Very pretty packaging, nice scent, but a pretty rubbish moisturiser. It sort of feels like body butter, at least it's texture, but it's not at all that creamy and doesn't really spread well, so you actually use up quite a lot of cream, and it's not even that moisturising. So it's a no from me I'm afraid.

See what other products I used up after the jump!

Guerlain Spring 2012 Collection - Noir G de Guerlain Mascara Review

The spring Guerlain collection isn't released yet here in the UK, but luckily I managed to get my hands on the new mascara, so here is my review.

The new Noir G de Guerlain mascara comes in a heavy case just like the Rouge G de Guerlain lipsticks, with the integrated mirror that flips open once the mascara is opened. The case is gorgeous, luxurious and exactly what you would expect from Guerlain. It opens differently from the Rouge G lipsticks, first you need to pull the cap off a bit (which enables the mirror to flip open), then twist the cap to pull the wand out.

The wand itself is your traditional wand with medium sized bristles (rather than plastic spikes), it's just the right size for me and works really well to distribute the mascara. The formula is a nice consistency and it does a good job of making my lashes look longer and fuller, while the brush separates them nicely. Can't comment on its curling ability as my lashes are naturally curly. The mascara itself is scented, it has a slight flowery scent which is only obvious if you're actually sniffing the wand or the tube. It comes only in one shade, 01 Noir (black), for now anyway. You get 6.5g of mascara which I think is the usual amount.

This is apparently the first refillable mascara although I'm not too sure how you actually refill it, but I can see a little hole at the end of the tube and the top of the cap, so I'm guessing that's how you eject the old one. My mascara didn't come with instructions, but I got mine from eBay, so maybe that's why? It was boxed though and both the inside lid of the box and the sticker on the mascara show how to open it, but not how to refill. Anyway, I'll worry about that later.

Pricewise, I believe this will retail at £35 which is VERY expensive even for Guerlain, although the Rouge G lipsticks are now nearing £30, so I guess it's in line with those. Is it worth 35 quid? As nice as it is, I have to say no. I don't normally apply my mascara on the go, so I have no need for the mirror and nor would I want to carry it with me much as it's very heavy. There are other very nice mascaras around for a lot less, even Guerlain's Le 2 mascaras "only" cost £25 and I do love those a lot. But I have to say that Noir G de Guerlain is a really really nice mascara and I honestly can't fault it. Will you be indulging?

P.S. By the way, in case you were wondering, I wore Noir G de Guerlain in this picture.

See more photos after the jump!