In the world of eye make-up removers... Is it worth splashing the cash?

This past month I've found myself in the unusual position of having used these 4 very different eye makeup removers:

I ran out of my Nivea Visage Daily Essentials at the start of the month and found, when moving home from Uni, the Clinique 'take the day off' sample which I then used until it ran out at which point I borrowed the Boots essentials gel from my sister until I could get to Boots and pick up a new one of my own! What an exhausting sentence to read out loud.

So what I want to answer with this review is the big question - is it worth spending megabucks on eye makeup remover or do cheaper products provide the same results? 

I use a lot of mascara as well as eyeliner and eye shadows almost every day so it's important for me to be able to get all the makeup off.

1. Boots Essentials 'Cucumber Eye Make-up Remover Gel' £1.50 at www.boots.com

As you can see from the missing writing my sister has had a lot of use out of this product! 

This the cheapest of the 4 products, an absolute bargain at only £1.50!! For 150ml of product - 1p per ml is not bad!

The consistency is gel like which is something I've never seen before and it works remarkably well. 

Eye make-up removability - not great! Gets most of the mascara off your lashes but just spreads it onto your face 

Effect on the eyes - my sister says this stings her eyes. I didn't feel any sting but that is obviously not desirable! It left my eye area feeling refreshed but a little sticky.

Overall score - 7/10

This product does give great value for money and it does the job (mostly!) but the stinging, stickiness afterwards and less than complete removal of mascara leaves room for improvement.

2. Nivea Visage Daily Essentials - 'Extra Gentle Eye Make-up Remover' £3.39 at www.boots.com

After I decided I couldn't afford to keep buying my go to eye makeup remover (No7's Beautiful Skin Eye Make-up Remover) as it costs £8.50 a pop I decided to try out a couple of cheaper alternatives which is how I came across this. It's an oil free liquid which I do like because I worry when using oily products near to my oily nose!

I was quite disappointed with the product really. I defiantly wouldn't describe it as gentle never mind 'extra gentle'!

Eye Make-up removability - not as good as you'd expect from a brand like Nivea. I often found my eyes would get itchy in the night with bits of mascara that I couldn't get off however hard I tried.

Effect on the eyes - my big issue with this product is how dry it left the skin around my eyes. It just feels horrible after and can be itchy! 

Overall score - 6-10

This does do it's job by removing pretty much all of the eye makeup and quite quickly however the itchiness and dryness just completely put me off. I don't think I'd buy this again.

3. Nivea Daily Essentials - 'Double Effect Eye Make-up Remover' £3.69 in Boots stores

This product excites me because it looks like a less-expensive version of the No7 product I mentioned above. Like that product this has an oil phase and an aqueous phase so you have to give it a good shake before using it. I've only used it a few times and I LOVE IT!!!

Eye make-up removability - can't be faulted, got all my mascara off quickly and efficiently.

Effect on eyes - no itching and no dryness! Also no stinging! All bonuses! The skin is left a little oily but not an unmanageable amount.

Overall - 9/10 

Because I can't put my finger on why but its just not quite as good as...

4. Clinique - 'Take the day off' makeup remover for lids, lips and lashes £16 www.clinique.co.uk

This was ridiculously hard to photograph! As you can see from the last little bits remaining in the bottle the formula was white, it was also separated so needed shaking before use. This is probably the best eye makeup remover I have ever used!

Eye make-up removability - somehow achieved the miracle of getting rid of so much of my eye makeup that I didn't get any building up in the corners of my eye overnight! I'd say this got the most eye makeup off with the least amount of product - you only need a tiny bit each time so even the sample lasted for ages.

Effect on eyes - no pain, no dry skin, no make-up left. Definately the gentlest of the eye makeup removers I've tried!

Overall- 10/10!!!

So.. Was this, the most expensive eye makeup remover, worth the £16 price tag?!

Well, if I had all the money in the world I would buy this every time!! However, the Nivea double effect does almost as good a job at a fraction of the price. So whilst the Clinique was worth the extra price it's not something I could afford to purchase considering my current income!

I'd really like to know what anyone reading this uses for eye makeup remover - do you like to splash out or have you found a perfect product for you?! Please leave a comment letting me know! #nosey 

The Lipstick Tag!

Lipsticks are definitely something I am very tentatively trying to get into, but am still struggling to be brave enough to wear! When I saw my friend Maxi over at The Lipstick Blog had made a lipstick tag and realised she had nearly 200(!!!!!) lipsticks, I realised I needed to catch up and get more into my lipsticks! Here are my answers to 'The Lipstick Tag' - hopefully I can look back in 6 months in horror at how few lipsticks I owned...

The LIPSTICK Tag!!

How many lipsticks do you own?

I own a grand total of 3, yes only 3, lipsticks! I absolutely love each of them!

As there are only 3 and a lip stainI have taken photos of them all.

Revlon 1000 Kisses - 700 Nothing But Nude

Lancome L'Absolu Nu - 302 Voile de Rose

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick - 013 Smoked Peach Matte

L-R: Revlon, Lancome, Rimmel Lip Stain

YSL Rouge Pur Couture -09  Rose Stiletto

What was your first ever lipstick?

Definitely a bright postbox red I bought for Hallowe'en fancy dress a good few years ago!! My first serious lipstick was the YSL one pictured here - I ordered some other makeup from YSL and with each order they sent me one of these sample sized Rouge Pur Couture lipsticks and I am so glad I had two of them because I absolutely love it!

What is your most worn lipstick?

The Lancome one gets worn the most because it is suitable for daytime.

What is your favourite brand for lipstick?

It's a little hard for someone with so few lipsticks to have a favourite brand! The texture of the YSL lipstick is just so smooth, it looks fantastic and the colour lasts all day, so that is probably my favourite!

What is your favourite finish?

Now that it's summer and I have a bit more colour to my face I am loving the matte finish! I need to invest in some more mattes!

What was the last lip product you bought?

A bit of a cheat but it was Blistex when my lips were dry after I had been abroad.

How many lip products do you currently have in your handbag? (inc. balms and glosses)

Too many!! I think 5.

What lipstick do you use to rock a red lip?

A red lip is something I have always been waaaayy too scared to try out, but something I definitely plan to do in future! I am making a pledge here to buy a red lipstick on pay day and to persist with using it until I feel comfortable with it.

How do you store your lipsticks?

The advantage of only having a few is that they mostly live in my handbag and makeup bag depending on if they are being used that day.

What lip products are you currently lusting after?

As I just mentioned I'd quite like to find myself a good red lipstick, ideally with a satin finish - something like a YSL Rouge Pur Couture 01 - Le Rouge. I am also reallllyyy pining after a dark orange/coral colour for summer. Suggestions more than welcome!!

30 Day Snap part 2!

So again I am way behind with this tag!! I also am struggling to find photo opportunities because I have been mostly working and going to the gym and thats it, but here is my effort for week 2 of Sprinkle of Glitter's 30 day snap tag!

8. I went to my beautiful friend Zoe's birthday! She is the amazing looking one on the right of the photo! I had so much fun, it's been way too long since I did any dancing (outside of my bedroom)

9. So.. I opened the airing cupboard and this little fella on the left scared the life out of me! Not sure how he got in there! He's quite a cutie once you realise he isn't a real mouse...

10. I joined a gym!!! More info on this to follow because it's one of those 30 minutes ladies only gyms and I feel it deserves it's own post! A little review if you will.

11. Got this new top to wear to the gym. Bright, happy clothes = bright happy girl!

12. Pretty sure I never signed up to any kind of mailing list but Waitrose have kindly sent me this 10% off card to use until the middle of July - could be very dangerous!! Waitrose do the yummiest foods, especially their cakes.

13. Nothing like a nice cup of green tea after work! I researched the health benefits of green tea whilst drinking it - apparently if you have 4 cups a day you burn an extra 80-100 calories! These were from dubious google sources though!

14. My favourite thing to do at work is use the paint machine to mix paint colours! This colourful tin is full of all the paint that comes out when you clean the machine. 

30 Day Snap - Week 1!

Sadly I didn't discover Sprinkle of Glitter's '30 day snap' tag until 4th June - luckily I've taken loads of pictures this week and so I've decided just to make weekly posts compiling my snaps!

1. Went for a long walk with my mum on the long mynd in the beautiful Shropshire hills.  2. Went on another walk (clearly I'm a sucker for punishment) to Bishops Castle and got this yummy cake as a reward! 3. Posted my first blog post on this blog..!!!! 4. Spent way too long inside taking photos of things when I should have been enjoying the sun! 5. Learnt my lesson and enjoyed the sun! This is a very enjoyable book, thoroughly recommended! 6. Started a new job for the summer! The uniform is ghastly but the people are fab. 7. Opened the kitchen cupboard to see my parents had stocked up on my student staple food - yum!

Bobbles of the Rainbow

I don't know about anyone else but I really struggle to find bobbles that stay in my hair when I exercise without pulling all my hair out when I try to take it out! I also find bobbles often only wrap round my hair twice which isn't quite tight enough, but there's not enough bobble left for a third loop.

Whilst searching for this bobble pinnacle yesterday I came across this beautiful selection by scünci:

 As you can see they come in this lovely, bright colour selection - perfect for summer! They also offer something a little different that I had never seen before - they have what can only be described as a rubbery inner tube. This can be seen in the pink bobble above, and is the shiny bit on the inside of the bobble below. This is to improve grip on the hair, and I would say it really works! I went to a Zumba class yesterday and the bobble didn't slip at all, and Zumba is pretty active.

 I also learnt today that it is very, very difficult to take a good quality photo of a specific part of the back of your head.

Scünci bobbles are available in Boots and Superdrug stores and are priced according to colour, type and quantity of selection.

Please let me know if you have any other bobble suggestions for zumba fans like me and if anyone knows, or even fancies a stab in the dark at, the pronunciation of scünci please leave me a comment below! For once in his life Siri has no suggestions.

Lovely 'Bubbly'!

There is a deal at Boots this week where certain items in Revlon's collection are £2 off!! Add to this the most recent vouchers from my advantage card which included a '£3 off Revlon' voucher and what do you get?! A nail varnish for just £1!!!!
I wanted to pick something summery so I chose 'Bubbly' which looked to me like a bright yet pastel pink!! That description says very little, so hopefully these pics will do the talking!

I was actually quite surprised at how bright this was on my nails! It reminds me of being in primary school and having a collection of very garish pinks to choose between! It has definitely grown on me since I applied it though - just love catching a glimpse of my hands and being instantly cheered up!

Greetings..!

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