Rimmel Waterproof Gel Liner

I've recently fallen in love with gel liners after purchasing the Bobbi Brown liner. But there are a number of alternatives out there... So what are the budget gel liners like?
I recently purchased the new Rimmel Waterproof gel liner in Aubergine (because I already have a black gel liner this seemed to be the next most suitable colour for me, especially for my green eyes)
I applied the liner before work this morning (8am) and now at 8pm (12 hours later) the eyeliner has stayed put. It has lost a little depth to the colour but nevertheless it is still there.
The application was surprisingly easy, the packaging itself houses the applicator brush cleverly in its lid - this is a great idea especially if like me you misplace your brushes on numerous occasions. The added benefit to a shorter brush also is that there is more control over the strokes so application is swift and pretty mistake free. (If you have never applied a gel liner or liquid liner it may require a little practise to keep your hand steady)

I was very impressed - whether this liner lasts 25 hours like it suggests on the packaging is something I will never attempt to find out but it's a great buy and once you get use to the application you may find (like I have) that you prefer using a gel liner to a liquid or a kohl liner as it can double up as both.

The Rimmel liner is available in 3 shades
- Black
- Deep Blue
- Aubergine
Retail price is £6.49

Have you tried a gel liner? What are your favourite brands?

Rhian Xx

Essie Glitter Polish - Beyond Cozy

Not that I wish to bombard you with Essie nail polish posts, but as I blogged about Sole Mate earlier on today, I thought I would take the opportunity to talk to you about my other Essie purchase - Beyond Cozy, a delicious gold glitter polish.

For those who have read my blog before you will know that I love anything that glitters. And despite already owning a glitter nail polish when I saw this one, I had to have it.
This is because its not a brash harsh yellow glitter, it's a subtle shade and is perfect for teaming with other shadows with an accent nail or as a glitter ombré look.
The coverage of this glitter is great, unlike the Jessica Glitterati polish I blogged about last week, this is not best used as a top coat because in all honesty it will completely cover over what you've already painted.

One coat is all you need for great coverage, and as its a glitter polish is dries quickly too.

A perfect party shade.

Rhian Xx

Illamasqua False Eye Lashes - 17

I LOVE Illamasqua false eye lashes, and I say that with confidence, despite only ever having previously tried one style (#14)

So when I recently visiting the Illamasqua sale online, I opted for a new style - and at £5 it's hard to say no really!

The style I opted for was #17. These are slightly denser than my usual #14 lashes and are a less conventional style. I would normally be dubious but the Illamasqua website offers a video showing all their lash styles being modelled - fabulous idea!

Illamasqua lashes come with a great adhesive, which applies in a blue shade but dries clear. The glue will guarantee your lashes stay on all night and the lashes are really comfortable even when worn with contact lenses.
The lashes are also not too long, so can be worn by glasses wearers also.
The band on the lashes is thick, and they can be worn on numerous occasions without then losing any shape at all - I have one pair of #14 lashes which I have worn on at least 10 separate occasions.

I like the style of #17 lashes, but prefer my #14 lashes (this is just my preference on style as the quality is equally as good)

If you want to grab these lashes at £5 hurry and visit www.Illamasqua.com before 29.01.13

Rhian Xx

Essie Nail Polish - Sole Mate

It's fair to say that I am a lover of dark nail polish especially for the autumn/winter. Any shades of darkened red or mulberry always catch my eye.
My favourite new polish shade of 2012 was Skyfall from the OPI James Bond collection. But my favourite shade of all time is Nails Inc - Saville Row. Which is a perfect blackened mulberry which great especially when the light catches it.


I was recently in my local Boots store, and like a moth to a flame was drawn toward to Essie stand.
Now it's fair to say that up until fairly recently I was an Essie nail polish virgin. Having always been drawn towards Nails Inc polishes, this would have been my "Go To" brand.
The polish that I opted for was "Sole Mate" (Essie polishes have fabulous names)
The shade is again of the dark plum category but does not disappoint.

Thanks to the large brush the coverage is great and you need very little strokes - the application is even and dare I say, with a steady hand almost fool proof.
I know it's hard sometimes to justify over £5 for a nail polish especially if you rarely paint your nails, and there are plenty of similar shades from brands such as Collection and Rimmel - So why choose Essie which is £7.99?

Well as with brands such as OPI and Jessica who specialise in nail polishes Essie polishes not only cover fantastically in the first coat (I always find with cheaper polishes the first coat can be a little lack lustre) But they last for ages too, so if you were to apply a polish you would easily get 5 days wear with very little damage to the finish.
I would still recommend a base coat and a top coat but there is no denying that this shade and overall finish is fabulous!

Would definitely recommend this product, and I will be collecting more and more Essie polishes.

Rhian Xx

Jessica Nails polish - 742 Glitterati

It's not often I have a bad word to say about Jessica Nail Polishes, I have a couple in my collection already which I adore. But this one left me feeling a little but deflated.
This may be my own fault, as the colour looks so wonderful and glittering in the bottle.
When applied alone the shade is "nothing" and the glitter coverage isn't great to say the least - this is why I was disappointed. Maybe I had built it up too much in my mind and was expecting to be wow'd.
Suffice to say... I was not wow'd, even when applying multiple layers the shade didn't improve a great deal.

However I have just applied over a black polish and am much happier with it. It's a subtle, subdued sparkle and the bronze, copper tones are great for this winter.

This shade is not going to rank amongst my favourite nail polishes. But I would definitely wear it over a black polish to add a little sparkle.

Have you tried any other Jessica glitter polishes? What are your thoughts on them?

Rhian Xx

Black & Gold Sparkle Nails

This snow has left me bored... Unable to go anywhere and with nothing exciting on the telly box I have decided to play around with some nail varnish looks.
As my nails were already painted matt black using Illamasqua's nail polish in Scorn I decided just to add a little bit of sparkle.
Now my usual option would be to add sparkle to the tips. But this time I decided to cover the base instead.
The glitter polish I used was 351 - Yellow Topaz Glitter by Barry M.
Barry M has great nail polishes, which are at a great price and are in a wide range of styles and colours.
The glitter polish is £3.99 but consists of small and large chunks of glitter which makes it extra luscious.

How To:
Simply paint your entire nail in your base shade of choice (dark purples would also look fab with the gold glitter) and apply the glitter polish from the base of the nail to the middle, pressing rather than strokes to allow you to keep it only half way up the nail and create depth.

If you don't fancy the glitter at the base of the nail the tips is still an option.

What do you think!?

Rhian Xx

Benefit High Brow

This is an interesting one... I first purchased this product, probably 4 years ago. If not more... I once used it everyday. But slowly, mainly through using other shadows or pigments as highlighters it has become a somewhat forgotten product in my make up collection - that was until I recently rediscovered my love for it.
My latest favourite thing to do eye make up wise is a matt smokey eye using various different matt brown and black eyeshades, but I felt I was missing something to highlight under my brows. Not wanting to add sparkle to my matt eye look, I found this pencil in my make up collection and it was perfect - I have fallen in love once again, and for anyone not fond of applying eye make up on a daily basis, this little pencil is the perfect pick me up for your brows. Easily applied and blended. What's not to love!?

High Brow retails for £14.00

Which Pigment?

Pigments, Pigments Pigments... Nearly every brand under the sun is releasing loose eyeshadow pigments in various guises. But which is best!? That is a very difficult question...
My collection of pigments has grown exponentially over the last fee years, and which brand has developed within my collection the most?
Why! Illamasqua of course!
Make no bones about it, I love this brand, from foundations to eyelashes but it is the pigments which I love the most.
I now have 8 Illamasqua pigments in total and would find it impossible to pick my favourite.
All of the Illamasqua pigments are labeled as "Pure Pigment" and I think this is what gives them their extra sparkle... I tend to apply mine on top of shadows for extra drama.
There are iridescent shades such as static and beguile which will add sparkle over any colour shadow, or even to cheeks and lips. The range also has more in depth shades such as involve (purple) zeitgeist (black) and android (charcoal)
Illamasqua pigments retail for £15.50 and are available online www.illamasqua.com or from selected Debenhams and Selfridges stores.
But maybe Illamasqua isn't for you!? Yes it's my favourite but its not the only collection of pigments that I have. Before I fell in love with this brand, Mac would have always been my preferred choice and some of the Mac pigments I own remain firm favourites amongst my glittering collection. Granted as a general rule they aren't as sparkly as the Illamasqua ones but they do come in a selection of brighter/bolder colours. My collection consists of 7 Mac pigments. Some of which I have blogged about previously. Mac pigments retail for £16.50 for 4.5g.
Both of these brands have staying power especially when applied on top of an eyeshadow primer. So it's a close call between the two and as the colour collections differ in both then there is nothing to stop you from mixing it up like I do. It will ultimately come down to which colour preference you have.
Now I understand that not everybody likes to invest considerable amounts of money in make up or particularly products that they aren't 100% familiar with, and this is where the trust Barry M Dazzle Dust comes in to play. These little pots of wonderful are great for first time pigment users and come in a wide selection of colours (although not all colours are available in all branches that you find Barry M product) they also retail for the bargain price of £4.59 (approx) The density of these pigments is a little heavier than the Illamasqua or Mac ones and they aren't quite as sparkly but they are still a great alternative to flat eyeshadows.

I've recently blogged about an Inglot body sparkle which is a great, highly glitterfied option. But there is a new kid on the block!
My most recent purchase a Mac pressed pigment in Deeply Dashing. So how does the pressed pigment stack up to the loose ones? Watch this space.

A list of my pigments is below:
Illamasqua
Ore
Furore
Android
Beguile
Static
Zeitgeist
Involve
Conquer

Mac
Chartreuse
Tan
Vanilla
Blue/Brown
Reflex Teal
Dark Soul
Teal

Barry M
Chocolate
Yellow Gold
Purple

Do you use pigments? Which is your favourite?

Rhian Xx

Gerard’s Glycolic Facial at The Vale Resort

After talking to you about the Philosophy brightening peel, I thought I would share with you a similar treatment which I had done at The Vale Resort Hotel and Spa last year.
For those not familiar with the Vale Hotel, it is a 4 star hotel and spa resort with Wales' largest Spa complex and it is amazing! Offering a wide range of treatments which you can check out here. www.vale-hotel.com
The treatment I had was Gerard’s Glycolic Facial which costs £45 and is a 40 minute treatment.
The treatment reads as follows;
A completely safe chemical peel with 25% glycolic acid from sugar cane. Exfoliating to the deepest layers, your skin will tingle to produce results combating fine lines, sun damage, acne and congestion.

The reason I opted for this treatment? I'm the kind of girl who liked to have a treatment and see visible results, I would much rather spend my money on a treatment like a facial or mani/pedi than a massage but that's just my preference. I therefore opted for this cause I wanted visible effects and benefits.
As someone who wears make up everyday and who is also partial to the occasional fake tan, I thought this was the perfect treatment to cleanse my skin of any rubbish which had built up.
I was not disappointed. My skin felt amazing afterwards, and was visibly brighter.
I would definitely recommend this treatment to anyone who is prone to outbreaks, and it's always nice for someone else to pamper you!

Have you visited the Vale Hotel Spa? What treatments did you have?

Rhian Xx

Eyelure lashes - 65 years (London Calling)

I'm a fan of false lashes on a night out but am always dubious of the cheaper ones... My love for my Illamasqua lashes is a great one and one that I don't think will ever be replaced, but having recently tried the Eyelure fine to full individual lashes I decided to give the strip lashes a go.
Eyelure recently released a range of lashes to celebrate their 65 years in the business. And the lashes which I have tried from this collection are called London Calling
These lashes are thinner and whispier and therefore more natural than my usual lash choice.
However I was pleasantly surprised. The lashes give you that extra bit of length needed without being too heavy on your eyes, perfect for someone who has very short lashes and needs a boost. I would never wear false lashes on a daily basis, but this is mainly because my lashes are long enough with a little mascara on to warrant not needing them. I would however not hesitate in wearing these lashes during the day as they are light enough and natural enough to be pulled off in a daytime look.
The lashes themselves are pretty strong and I guess if well looked after you could get 2-3 wears out of them.
I'm never fond of the lash glue that is supplied with the cheaper lashes, so would recommend if you wanted extra staying power to invest in a better glue.

Have you tried Eyelure lashes before, which are your favourites?

Get those lashes fluttering ladies!!

Rhian Xx

Philosophy Microdelivery triple-acid brightening peel

On a recent trip to Debenhams I got given a couple of bits of Philosophy freebies to try out.... And well it would be rude not to talk to you about them.
The one that looked most appealing to me was the Microdelivery triple-acid brightening peel (bit of a mouthful) and therefore was the first thing I gave a test run.
The peel comes on a pre-saturated pad which is similar to a cotton wool pad just a little larger. The instruction is to swipe the pad over a clean face in the evening and fingers crossed your skin looks brighter. So did it?
My skin did feel lovely after I had applied the peel (please note that the term peel is in regards to the action it provides rather than referring to a visible residue on your face that requires peeling off)
Did I notice a visible difference? ... Yes, as I mentioned my skin felt smoother, tighter and brighter. However the peel is recommended for weekly usage and at £59 for 12 pads it is rather pricey.
If I had a spare £59 would I purchase the product? Yes I think I would.... But only once I had saved enough Beauty Club points to part support the indulgence.

Rhian Xx