Maybelline Baby Lips Pink Glow (Pink Blast)

This product seemed like a really good idea - a moisturising lip balm that changes colour based on the chemistry of your lips - so I decided to give it a go even though I wasn't a fan of the original Maybelline Baby Lips (not moisturising enough for my incessantly annoying dry lips.)

At first, I was really pleased with the results - the colour looked very much like Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie, which is one of my go-to lip products. The positives of this  product include a really nice, smooth lip colour (at least at first) which doesn't transfer onto cups and consequently lasts a little longer than your average lipstick. Downsides are that since it takes a couple of seconds to react with your lips, by then it's kinda too late if you've gone outside your lips with the initial application, and trying to remove stray colour takes a little more elbow grease than normal lip products. Also, although I did find it more moisturising than the original formula, I also discovered that the product still seeps into the cracks of your lips and will not budge once this has happened.

The Lowdown: Gives a nice colour and decent moisture but is a little too high maintenance for a lip balm. On the bright side, it's fairly inexpensive (I can't remember exactly, but I think I bought it from Priceline for only about $3.95AUD)

Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lip Gloss

Image source: Beautybay.com
 

Like many good things in life, I happened on this little beauty completely by accident. I actually got a sample of it with my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette and didn't get a chance to try it out until this month...and then was too lazy to write about it until now! The consistency of this product is absolutely perfect - it lasts for a REALLY long time without being uncomfortably sticky (I've actually had stickier lip glosses with only half the wear of this.) And another surprise is that it is actually very moisturising, which is something I'd expect more from balms than lip glosses, which tend to dry out my lips very quickly.

The colour I have is Naked and although I'm not normally one for nude lip colours (brown toned ones tend to make my already dark lips look weird and the peachier tones just make me look really sick,) this one is the perfect shade - it looks a little brown under artificial light but pretty natural under normal light.

I really don't know what more I can say about this gloss other than that once I run out, I'll most probably be buying a full size version!

The Lowdown: Great wear, non-sticky and moisturising - could I ask for any more in a lip gloss?

Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lip Gloss is available from beautybay.com for between AUD $19.94-20.98. If you haven't already, follow them on twitter and get a one off discount voucher you can use on their site.

Maybelline One by One Mascara

Ok, look. I am a self confessed mascara junkie. If I was only allowed to use one makeup product for the rest of my life, it would be mascara. I just think (especially for a bespectacled girl like myself,) mascara can do wonders to open up your eyes and make you look more awake - if you choose the right one for yourself, that is.

I was really excited to try this mascara out because Maybelline mascaras have a reputation for being amazing and the plastic bristles looked like exactly the sort of thing that have worked for my lashes in the past. The first few times I had a go at the mascara, however, I was really disappointed - I got barely any length from it, and absolutely zilch volume. In fact, if I took about one step away from the mirror, you could barely tell I was even wearing any mascara at all!

BUT if there's one thing I am when it comes to makeup, it's persistent. So I kept at it, and have now developed a separate technique for making this mascara work. First of all, you really have to spend some time curling your lashes properly, because this mascara does not help in that department at all. Everyone has different curling techniques, but the one I find works best for this mascara is to press your curler once at the base of your lashes, and then wiggle it out a little, press down again, and continue to do this in small increments until you reach the end of your lashes, adjusting the angle of the curler at each increment to resemble a natural curl. Secondly, you must wiggle with this mascara. A lot. For most of the mascaras I've tried in the past, you can sometimes get away with just vertical swipes at your lashes. Nuh-uh, not for this one - you really have to give it a good wiggle at the base of your lashes, and continue doing this until about midway, before pulling it upwards to coat your ends. You also need to apply different angles depending on which part of your lashline you're working on - for your outer corner, hold your mascara wand at about a 45 degree angle, for the middle of your lashline, you can hold it virtually horizontally, and for the inner corner, either hold it at a 90 degree angle, or at a 45 degree angle but in the opposite direction to your outer corner (if that makes sense...)

Staying power is pretty good, I don't generally get problems with smudging. And it comes off easily in the shower (which is what I'd expect from a non waterproof mascara.)

The Lowdown: A pretty excellent lengthening mascara (although it isn't volumising at all) if you're patient enough to work with it a little. Very natural looking, great staying power and removes easily with eye makeup remover/just in the shower.

Maybelline One by One Mascara retails for between $12ish and $19.25 AUD depending on where you buy it and is available at Priceline, Woolworths, Coles, Target, Kmart, BigW and selected pharmacies.

Almay Eye Makeup Remover Pads

 

Alright, so I know I promised to upload this a few weeks back, and never got around to it - I thought that I could sneak a few blog posts in between studying for my final exams, but I severely underestimated how much work this semester was going to be (my 6th set of Uni exams and I still haven't learnt anything!)

 

I actually came across this product whilst reading Zoe Foster's 'Amazing Face' (which, on a side note, is a really fun read and is full of useful beauty tips!) and thought I'd give it a try because it sounded like the answers to all my eye makeup removal prayers - gentle, easy to use, and strong enough to take away all my makeup with a single swipe.

 

Again, you would think I know better by now than to expect miracle products and unfortunately, I was once again disappointed with the results. In terms of actually removing my eye makup, it does a decent job and one removal pad is generally enough for me to take off everything on both eyes. However - it's absolutely saturated in oils. I took a liking to oil-containing eye makeup removers a while back because unlike the oil-free formulas, they take one look at my waterproof eye mascara, scoff, and then remove it with a few easy swipes. I've never, however, come across anything like the Almay remover pads. They are so saturated in oils that a couple of dabs or swipes on your eye and you'll be left trying to blink out the residue for the next few hours. It's gotten to the point that I'll need a separte clean cotton ball to clean up the oil on my eyelids every few swipes or so, otherwise I'd be drowning in it!

 

Almay does have Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover Pads, and I'm not sure if you'd get the same problems with that one, but I have a feeling that sacrificing the oil in the formula will equal sacrificing makeup removal power, so I think I'll just stick to the makeup remover I was happily using before buying the Almay one. I think this is just one of those products that is great in theory, but unfortunately disappointing in reality.

 

The Lowdown: I'm going to be honest - unless you want blurry vision and irritated eyes every time you remove your eyemakeup, don't. Just don't.