Essence Colour Flash Volume Mascara (All Shades 1 - 5)

Every summer we see bright coloured make up ranges coming out and in particular coloured mascara! But at prices like £14 from Ciaté for coloured mascara which is a risqué product... I think cheaper alternatives are a must! I love a pop of colour and the concept of coloured mascaras amazes me and luckily these were given to me at the Essence Event so here is a complete range of coloured mascaras from Essence which you can get in Wilkinson  for £3 each.

There are 5 Shades available and they are, Petrol (02), Bright Blue (04), Emerald Green (01), Purple (05) and Pink (03). I've written them in the order of the photo so that there is no confusion! I know you are probably thinking that these are not wearable, however I believe you can wear it on just your bottom lashes to bring attention to the eyes or if your brave just full on colour! The darkest blue is probably your best bet!

So here i'll show you swatches of each shade but in numerical order! These are my natural lashes and I have NOT used an eyelash curler as a fair test to all my mascara reviews.
 (Please Excuse my Eyebrows!!)

Emerald Green (01)

 This Emerald Green shade is not what I saw the mascara. I was expecting a sort of a green turquoise just from looking at the bottle, however I am pleasantly surprised! I actually think despite how shocking this may look I actually think this may be very wearable. Maybe I'm insane but I really do love this and I think this may even be a dupe of the Ciaté - Nymph Mascara which retails for £14. No word of a lie I desperately wanted it because I hadn't seen that shade of coloured mascara done before! You can't imagine how glad I am that I didn't have to fork out £14!

Petrol (02)

 

 

This Dark Blue/ Navy shade called Petrol is the most wearable shade in the whole collection. And the shade that you can wear all year round, especially as we are going into the A/W Season this mascara would fit right in! I personally love this shade as it looks almost (well)  and I think it makes brown eyes look amazing! My sister who mind you is older than me bought one of her own after seeing it and incorporated it into her makeup bag. So I've seen first hand that it lasts all day and does not flake so for £3 it is a huge bargain!!

Pink (03)

 

 

This is probably the least wearable shade in the whole range as I find that I like/hate it. I think this would only be great as costume/festival makeup for someone with maybe green or blue eyes or maybe even a darker skin tone. But personally I find that I look like I have an eye infection or as if my eyes have been irritated. I think this is just going to be used as costume makeup for me or on my hair.

(!!This shade contains CARMINE!!)

Bright Blue (04)

 This lovely appropriately named Bright Blue Shade is a shocking electric looking colour. Personally I fond it most wearable on the bottom lashes and I really like it because as a glasses user I find that it helps my eyes stand out behind my glasses. Again I find that this shade helps brunette eyes stand out on a beautiful way and I will probably be using this frequently when I feel like I want a strong flash of colour!

Purple (05)

 Now this is another extremely un-wearable shade if not worse than the Pink, but yet I absolutely love it. I know I'm insane but I just love how frosty it looks! I feel like this would be amazing for Halloween or a festival! Or even an extreme winter look, or a harujuku style.... okay I'm not sure how you could wear this and not look a bit strange. But the most wearable way would be on the ends of your eyelashes as if snowflakes had fallen on them! Another reason why I like this is because I actually haven't seen this colour mascara before. EVER. So I can't wait to experiment and see if I can try and make this as wearable as possible!

 (!!This shade contains CARMINE!!)

 

 

Overall I am a big fan of this range due to the two extra colours that aren't usually available by budget brands and I find that compared to the MUA Coloured Mascaras (which I've reviewed before) paying £2 more does make a difference as I found that my eyelashes were more spread out (not as clumpy). What I will say is it dries quickly so you do have to be a bit quick when applying them. Again like any other mascara as I have Dark Brown/Black Eyelashes I did need to add a couple of coats for maximum colour, but it does not flake at all which I LOVE. 

 

So are there any here you would use? What other brands would you recommend?

 

 

L.F.A. Xx

 

*These were given to me during an event however I always give my full and honest opinion*

KIKO Makeup Milano Haul

KIKO Cosmetics has been a relatively new addition to London high streets as I have only seen two stores so far. (One in Stratford Westfield and on Oxford/Regent Street) Both of which opened last year, so since I needed a couple things I thought I'd pop in and have a browse (plus the SALE signs were also a pretty good incentive) I got all these in separate occasions so excuse the difference in lighting.

I did end up leaving with a couple of things. The only item I got from the SALE was the 30 Days Extension - Daily Treatment Mascara for £3.90 down from £7.99.Which I think is very cheap considering its a treatment and most normal mascaras are more expensive.
Sticking to the treatment theme I bought the Ultra Long - Post Stress Treatment Basecoat 11ml for £4.90 as my nails are unsettlingly short and I needed a base coat so with this I'd kill two birds with one stone!

I also got the Quick Dry Nail Lacquer 10ml in the colour Transparent, as Top Coat as I plan to make plenty of nail art designs this summer. I got this for £4.90. Though it may be more worthwhile to get the Gel Look - Ultra Glossy Effect Top Coat for that price.

Do you remember that last summer I w's looking for a dupe of a particular eyeshade from an ELF Pallets. Well I think I found it and it is the Infinity Eyeshadow - 210 Satin Brick  for £5.90. I know some of you may think that is a bit expensive for an eyeshade that doesn't even come in a compartment, but to be honest I really didn't care as I have been dying to buy this colour.

Last but no least I got the Velvet Mat - Satin Lipstick in 609 (called Cherry Red online) although it isn't really very red, more purple-ish. I got it for £6.90 which is amazingly cheap for its awesome packaging and colour. (you'll see more in future posts.)

So have you gotten anything from KIKO lately? And doesn't their packaging remind you of MACs?

L.F.A. Xx

MUA Haul!!

As you know I love a bargain. And when MUA (a brand that is already very affordable) has a SALE I just have to stock up!



Shade 2 and Shade 3

First and foremost I needed a new Bronzer one that wasn't shimmery and in-expensive. And so I decided to get these. Each one on SALE for 50p each.!.!. Though they are usually £1 still very cheap. I couldn't help it I bought Shade 2 and 3, as I didn't know what the shades would look on my skin.

Secondly I really needed a Brow Gel! I wanted a clear one as I wouldn't need to worry about the shade matching (The Gel was clear but I have been using it so its gone a little cloudy...). So I got the MUA Mascara in Shade 1.  I know, I know it's a mascara but meh.!. Plus it was only £1.

And lastly I ordered the Fashionista Diamonds Rocks in Red Diamond for on SALE for £1 down from £4.  Perfect for Halloween or for a dark, rocky, edgy look to my nails! 

So have you guys got any products from MUA? Any must haves?

L.F.A. Xx

MUA Coloured Mascara (Shade 3, 6 & 7)

I am a girl who loves a bit of colour so when MUA came out with these colourful  Mascara I just had to get them!!

Now my friends must have been sick and tired of hearing me ask if they could check in their local Superdrug Store (even my bestie who was in holiday in Scotland.!.!) ...but nope! Nada. Until I took advantage of Superdrug's free delivery.!!!. And ordered it online!

 

These 3 Shades were only a £1 each so I wasn't expecting miracles.!. 

 

This is my absolute FAVOURITE one that I bought.!.! 

It's Shade 6 - Electric Blue this colour was probably the most wearable of the 3 and is fantastic! It covered the majority if my dark eyelashes  and I really think i'll be using this a lot.!.!

Next is Shade 3 (slightly Turquoise) is a beautiful colour.! This came in second for me! As it applied well, is true to colour, and its not as wearable as Shade 6 but it's still good.!.!

 

And finally I was soooo excited about this Shade 7 - Hot Pink Mascara but I was so distraught to see that it just....didn't work for me.!.!

It barely covered my eyelashes (I had to re-apply it 4-5x) I must regrettably say that this was my least favourite and will probably only use this for costume parties (if I use it at all).

Overall it seems blue complements my brown eyes better.!? Maybe the pink will suit non-brown coloured eyes??

Other than that I definitely think its worth getting these of your just starting to experiment with coloured Mascaras as its only a £1.!

Will you or have you tried these out??

L.F.A. Xx

L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara

This mascara is originally from the edition (Diamantissime) but it is almost exactly the same as the current  L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara, except that it doesn't have sparkly/glittery bits, which I think is much more wearable.

This mascara claims to "Separate lashes for a fanned-out effect" and well I think it actually does work (you can judge from the picture) though if you are heavy handed (as with any mascara I presume) it can be clumpy so just remember to clean of any excess off. 

The colour I have is in Black Diamantissime and as you can see the Wand is Plastic (Elastomer) which I think is more sanitary than the brush/bristle ones. You can actually see the little sparkly bits in the formula itself.!.!

You can get this Mascara from Boots for £10.99 in Black, Extra Black, and in Waterproof Black (Which may be a good idea as the weather is getting more humid and our worst enemy Hay fever has appeared once again so watery eyes.!.)

P.S What are your thoughts on the Volume Million Lashes range?

L.F.A. Xx