MUA Luxe Power Brow Sculpting Gel Review

I have been wanting to get my paws on these beauties for a short time, as my brows are pretty darned sparse. I always have to fill them in, from one end to the other, and this gel-cream formula seemed like a good idea. It's definitely a change from my normal pencil routine, for sure.

I bought them for £4 each at Superdrug, in the colours 'Mid Brown' and 'Dark Brown'. I tend to lean towards mid brown colours for my brows as my hair is dark brown BUT my eyebrow hairs are black. And because your brows (if you have brown hair of most shades) are supposed to be two shades lighter than your hair, mid Brown works best as it can be darkened up if necessary.

Each pot comes with its own brush, built into the lid. The brush can be made longer by clicking the opposite end of the brush back into the lid and voila! Longer brush handle!

Ta dah! Ahem! Sorry, I'll continue...

My mid brown pot looked wonderful when I got it home. My dark brown pot, however, looked like it had been overheated and had kind of melted all around the pot and some of the product was even on the inside of the lid.

To be honest, I'm not too bothered by all this. Just thought I'd share haha.

These are the two gels, swatches on my thumb. Top is 'Dark Brown', bottom is 'Mid Brown' These claim to be long lasting and smudge resistant and boy, are they; I rubbed both lines of colour really hard after they had set and the colour barely moved on my skin. I've washed my hands at least 7 times today, and I still have two faint brown lines on my thumb, 12hrs later. They will have to be removed with makeup remover very shortly!

Soooo this is my bare eye/skin/brow - I know, scary stuff! As you can see, my brows are thin - overplucked as a teenager, now the only thing I use tweezers for is to apply false eyelashes - and sparse, so of course they need to be filled in on a daily basis.

So here is the same eye with some basic makeup (age is upon me, my hooded eyes are getting worse!), and my brow filled in with both of the gels. I think I made them look sort of natural looking. I used Dark Brown on the tail end of the brow for definition, and Mid Brown on the rest of the brow to make the brow look fuller.
The gel is super pigmented and a little goes a long way. The brush that goes with it could do with being thinner, so the brush strokes wouldn't be so wide and heavy-handed-looking, but at £4 each I am not complaining.
As for longevity, I applied this gel on my brows around 12hrs ago, and they haven't melted, smudged or faded away. I wish I could say that about my foundation (Hi, super oily T-Zone!), but my brows look like they could go for hours longer without a problem.
Hugs x

Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Fatigue Blur *cool rose*

I don't know why I bought this, but I liked the idea of it. I'm not a massive fan of primers (except for Milk of Magnesia), but I bought it anyway... 

It's basically a water-based-silicone primer that helps smooth out very fine lines and blurs the skin's imperfections. 

It is a creamy white-pink, but when it's applied and smoothed out it becomes clear. It feels much more refreshing when it's first applied due to the water content, and dries down to a matte finish, leaving my skin feeling light and comfortable. 

Above: my bare face, freshly cleansed before and after application.

My skin looks fractionally more smooth, but it doesn't make me look more awake or any less fatigued. This is a nice little product for people that don't like to wear foundation but like their skin to look smoother without weighing it down with heavy silicone primers. I'm a foundation/CC cream fan myself, but for makeup free days I might be reaching for this little beauty to help perk me up without covering my imperfections. 

I think I'd like to try the apricot colour one next just to use something a little closer to my fakely tanned skin, but my local drugstore doesn't stock it, so next time I go into town it'll be on my shopping list.

Volume 1 seconde mascara

I haven't done a makeup review for a while. That's because I've been too poor to buy any! Luckily, mes amis, I bought this Bourjois mascara before I went on holiday, and I finally got around to opening it today, so this is a first impressions/review. 

This is the normal black mascara, the waterproof one has a bluey colour instead of pink. 

I think the wand head looks so cool. There are little tiny balls (or spheres) within the bristles to make sure there are no clumps when you apply it. 

Above; my bare, curled lashes. 

Above, as you can see, my lashes after 1, 2 & 3 coats, then a coat on my lower lashes and zoomed out so you can see the full effect. 

My thoughts: It has a great formula, smooth, not too wet, doesn't clump, and does create decent volume after two or three coats. It hasn't flaked but it did pull my curl out a little bit, but not too much. This is a lovely mascara, and I would love to try the waterproof version.