ASOS Travel Essentials

ASOS is probably one of the biggest online shops in the UK, and since they have added a Face and Body section to the site, it has become one of my go to shops without needing to leave the house.

I bought all my Crayola beauty bits on there, and I noticed they were doing a limited edition travel box in the middle of Summer featuring some of the products they sell on the site. A lot of the products in the box were ones I have wanted to try for ages so I snapped up the box before it went out of stock, and for only £10, it went out of stock fast!

Some staple brands out there at the moment are OUAI, Glam Glow, Rodial and Too Faced. The beauty industry really is saturated with so many amazing brands, and as a beauty blogger I am ashamed to say I had never tried any of these before now! I thought buying this box would be a great introduction into using them, making sure I liked them before I delved a little deeper into each one.

One of the brands I had never heard of before was Touch In Sol, which is a Korean brand. The No Pore-Blem Primer, £15, ASOS is a lightweight primer which doesn't have that silicone feel afterwards. It is creamy and hydrating but looks a matte finish prepping the skin for makeup.

I wasn't mad about this primer, and probably wouldn't rush to go and buy it, but the brand in general offers skin care at a low price point, and Korean beauty is something I want to explore in the future so I may come back to this brand when the time is right.

Emma Hardie is a brand I have tried before, and I wrote about her amazing Moringa Cleansing balm a few years ago where I claimed it may be my favourite ever cleansing balm! It is definitely still up there in one of my favourite cleansers, so I was excited to try the Brilliant Face Oil, £39, ASOS

This is a very luxury brand and just a few small drops from the face oil before bed hydrates my skin until the morning. It contains essential oils and Omegas to help plump and generally feed your skin what it needs. It smells really lovely and this has become a staple part of my night time routine if I need something to give my skin a boost. It can be used on all skin types too including oilier skins, as it is a dry oil and doesn't leave a greasy finish.

Glam Glow is a brand you always see plastered over Instagram as it is very popular with the beauty community. If I'm honest, they're packaging has never screamed out to me as a brand I wanted to try as there are lots of different colours and I always found it a little confusing. I am so glad I got the chance to try them in this box though as I have loved using this Thirstymud Hydrating Glam to Glow Treatment, £16, ASOS. It smells super coco-nutty which makes me think of instant hydration, and the formula is very thin and clear, so you can either wash it off or let it sink into the skin which is what I like to do overnight.

I wake up to super hydrated, plump and soft skin after using it, and the smell really is just wonderful if you're into coconut!

I have always loved using  hair oil but I have never tried one infused with Rose and also never tried any products from OUAI which is so hugely popular. The OUAI Rose Hair and Body Oil, £26, ASOS is beautiful oil that I use on the ends of my hair to seal in moisture and smooth any fly aways. It smells really pretty and can also be used on the body so a great little multi purpose product. I really want to try some of the styling products from OUAI as they are meant to be unreal.

Another brand I have been desperate to try but been desperate to try is Rodial. In particular the Dragon's Blood range which I am sure I saw Kylie Jenner was a huge fan off. Included in this box was the Dragon's Blood Hyaluronic Tonic, £38, ASOS, and it has become and it has become another staple item in my daily routine. I like to spray this on my face in the morning before I apply other skincare, and also just before I go to bed as an alternative to a thick cream or as a base for a facial oil such as the Emma Hardie one above.

This contains Hyaluronic acid which the skin naturally produces as a skin hydrator, so I like to use this under other products to help my skins natural production of this.

And yet another brand I have always wanted to try (seriously I am terrible beauty blogger) is makeup brand Too Faced. The Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, £10 for Travel Size / £19 Full Size, ASOS was unfortunately a little disappointing for me though. Although It did leave me with fairly nice looking lashes, I just found this mascara was so smudgey, and everytime I wore it I found myself with panda eyes or black random smudges around my eyes. Granted, the first time I wore it I was at a wedding so I may have been a little teary so forgave it, but ever since I have had the same problem. so maybe the waterproof one is worth trying. The hourglass shaped wand allows you to coat each lash and add volume and curl.

For me the effect of the mascara didn't justify the smudges. You can see in this image that the lower outer corner is a little messy and I found it did this throughout the day and transferred onto my upper lid too. 

I love that ASOS is now stocking beauty products, and I think boxes like this are a great way for people to discover and try out brands they may not usually experiment with.

Are you interested in any of these brands? If so want products have you tried and loved, or are there any you want to give a go?

Glossier: Lash Slick Review

Since Glossier landed in the UK it is safe to say I have become a super fan. Apart from one product that I really did NOT get on with, Glossier have ticked every single box for me when it comes to their skincare and makeup.

As more of a skincare lover, I have tried less of the makeup but when I heard the latest product was a mascara I really wanted to give it a try.

Glossier's ethos is very much about enhancing natural beauty. None of the products are heavy or full coverage, and the new Lash Slick, £14,glossier.com promises to give you effortlessly luscious lashes.

At first, I wasn't fussed or excited at the news of the new mascara. I personally thought buying a mascara to make your lashes look natural was a waste of money as I usually like a mascara that adds a lot of va-va-voom and makes them look super long and thick. 

My interest only peaked when I saw on instastories that ELLE UK's beauty director Sophie Beresiner used the mascara on her morning commute series 'makeup on the move' and described it as 'like boy brow for your lashes'.

As a huge fan of boy brow, I finally realised that I had to give this mascara a try, as I would never ever revert back to any other kind of brow gel now after using boy brow.

Lash slick contains small one and two millimeter fibres that hook onto the lashes to add length. The comb of the wand has tiny plastics bristles that allow you to really catch the lashes and run the mascara from base to tip.

Although this mascara claims to enhance natural lashes, I really was surprised at just how much length it gave to my lashes. The formula is not clumpy at all, and a vegan biotin allows the mascara to strengthen and condition lashes over time.

Although this mascara doesn't add much thickness to my lashes, I actually really like the final result and can see exactly how this and boy brow compliment each other. I would go as far to say this is now my favourite mascara to use for everyday, as the long natural look adds a nice curl too my lashes and looks really pretty for day to day. It is also really long lasting and doesn't smudge or budge so really does last throughout the day.

Much like boy brow, I can see this becoming a non-mover in my makeup bag, and whilst the price point isn't quite high-street, it is still very affordable compared to high end luxury branded mascaras.

L'Oreal Paradise Extatic Mascara Duo

The L'Oreal Paradise Extatic Mascara, £11.99, Boots came out last year and was a product I really liked using last Summer. I included it in my August 2017 favourites and now they have brought out the L'Oreal Paradise Extatic Mascara Primer, £11.99, Boots, a nourishing primer to go under the mascara to boost volume and lengthen lashes.

The packaging itself really compliments it's rose gold counterpart, and the white colour reminds me of coconut and its nourishing, hydrating properties.

Whilst it doesn't actually contain any coconut oil, it does contain Jojoba oil which moisturises and enhances hair follicles to allow eyelashes to grow longer and thicker. It also contains beeswax which is a natural protector and will help coat the lashes before mascara.

The primer is a white colour and will double up as a great frosty eyelash look if you're doing a Halloween or Elsa from Frozen look, so that is always a plus.

As you can see the primer adds lengths to the tips which and will protect the lashes for when the layers of mascara go on.

Below is a picture of my eyelashes with just the Extatic mascara only and nothing at all.

The image above is the mascara with the primer and you can see it has definitely thickened the look of my eyelashes and separated them more giving a more fanned out look. In terms of length, I don't think they look any longer than they would with mascara, however with prolonged use, the primer will help nourish my eyelashes and stop them falling out as easily which means the will get to grow longer and stronger!

To give a little side profile, I think my eyelashes definitely have a more defined curl and look much thicker. Obviously this is a very natural look and won't give you the look of false lashes, but for a drugstore product I really like the effect of these combining products.

Rimmel Lash Tinting Mascara

We are always looking for ways to make our eyelashes thicker, longer, and more fluttery. 

With plenty of eyelash treatments out there, such as tints, LVL's and eyelash extensions, natural beautiful lashes are easy to achieve. However these treatments take time, obviously cost money and need a lot of upkeep. The Rimmel Volume Colourist mascara promises to tint eyelashes as well as being a great volumising mascara. 

I have tinted my eyelashes before, but being able to combine the tinting with an everyday routine saves time as well as ensuring continual upkeep. It claims that you will be able to see the results of darker lashes after 2 weeks, so as it has been just over 2 weeks since I started wearing this new product, I thought it was time to see if this could be the new lash treatment to go for.

The mascara itself is this strange cube shape, and has a fairly standard wand.

Although the mascara claims to add volume, I felt it had a lot more to offer in terms of length. My lashes didn't look very thick, however the looked very long, be it a little skinny.

I wasn't wild on the effect at first, but I have started to get used to using it everyday, and having a longer lash.

So did the results of the tinting prove true? 

For me personally, I can see a slight colour change at the roots of my lashes, but not anywhere near the tips, which is were you want the tinting ideally as that will give the appearance of longer lashes.

As you can see my lashes are very fair. From the top, there was hardly any difference at all, but then when applying mascara, I use upward motions so the top of the lashes would have barely been effected by the mascara.

before 

after

From an more open eyed view, I think you can see more obviously where the tinting has worked on the roots of my lashes.

Before

after

Overall, I would say the claim of tinting lashes may be a little bit optimistic. Obviously I realise that they can only put a bit of dye in to make the mascara wearable everyday, but I was hoping for a little more from the mascara.

Before

After

I wouldn't give up on any eye lash treatments for this mascara. However the mascara is a good everyday wearable eye lash look. For £8.00 a tube, it maybe something you want in between treatments as a maintenance mascara.

Benefit Roller Lash

The newest addition to Benefit's makeup line is the "Roller Lash" mascara.

Designed to make your lashes look like you've had them in rollers overnight, it aims to add curl and volume.

'They're Real', is benefits number 1 mascara, being one of the most globally popular mascara. With that kind of reputation to uphold, will the 'Roller Lash' beat it on performance?

VS

Firstly, the wand is fairly similar to that of the 'They're Real' mascara. They both have harder plastic bristles as opposed to the bumble bee like wands, however the 'They're Real' bridtles are harder and not as flexible . They both have a curvature so you can get down the very root of the lashes, but I find the results are very different.

 Personally, I think 'Roller Lash' would be a mascara you'd wear everyday. It's light weight, doesn't feel like your wearing anything and gives a more natural look. I think 'Roller Lash' doesn't quite have the same dramatic effects. 

In my opinion though, 'They're Real' isn't a mascara you'd want to wear everyday. I find it creates a really dramatic look, but can feel slightly heavy and clumpy on the lashes. The picture below doesn't show of the effects very well, but the mascara does pick out every lash making them look longer and thicker.

I guess it comes down to the kind of look you want and how you want your eyelashes to feel. 

I find when I wear heavier mascara, I have a tendency to pick at my lashes resulting in them falling out, so 'Roller Lash' for an everyday would be better for me. They both retail at £24.00 so price shouldn't sway your choice.

Have you tried both mascaras? If so, do you think the same as me and if not, why? I'd love to hear your opinions

Lancome Grandiose Mascara

It is very rare that I find a mascara that actually makes a difference to my lashes. My eye lashes are really rubbish and I find a lot of mascaras tend to just make my eyelashes darker and therefore show up more, but there are only a very select few that do make a real difference to them. In the past, the only two that I remeber as standing out to me, are the Chanel volumizing mascara that I reviewed a while ago, and the Benefit 'They're Real', however I do find that slightly uncomfortable to wear.

I have now found one that could beat these two, and it is the newly launched  Lancome Grandiose mascara. As soon as I tried it on, I knew I had to have it! The actual bottle itself is really pretty, and it has a very thick bottom to make room for its interesting shaped wand.

The wand is described as a 'swan neck' shape, and is designed so you can perfectly angle each individual lash.

 It perfectly coats each lash from root to tip, and gives length and volume. It coats each individual lash to create a wide eyed look, without being spidery and gives a fanned out finish.

To apply you start at the root and zig zag to the tip of the lash. The swan neck applicator means you can really get in there to create layer upon layer.

Its such an exciting new launch, and I went out and bought one yesterday and have not regretted it at all.

This mascara retails at £24.00, which I think is a really good price for a high end mascara that delivers so well. This is definitely my new number 1 mascara, and I think it will be hard to beat.