They’re Real! Benefit mascara review

Benefit’s Bad Gal Lash is the only mascara I have used, loved and repurchased. However, last year Benefit released They’re Real and replaced Bad Gal Lash as my favourite mascara.

They’re Real is a false-lash effect mascara, which is perfect for me since I can’t/don’t like applying false lashes. The secret to the mascara is in the wand. The rounded end means that each and every lash can be coated, and it only takes the one coat to get the effect.

For me, it’s perfect because it does the job it’s meant to do without clumping my lashes together or ending up all over my lids. I can easily get away with just one coat to get the effect I want.

Naked lashes

They’re real!

I have grown to like the packaging on this, although I am not much of a packaging girl generally. But I like that it is not too long and fits into makeup bags and pockets easily.

If I had to find a fault with this I would say that, because it is so effective at coating every lash, I don’t like the defined look you get on the lower lashes (think Twiggy). I skip using this on my lower lash line and opt instead to applying eyeliner so that my lower lashes are more subtly defined.

*This was a gift from my little sister. Thanks Sis! 

Nazila Love Glamour meets Ghost the musical and a giveaway!

Last Friday I was one of 30 lucky bloggers invited to an event organised by Amazing PR to introduce Nazila Love Glamour glitz nails and watch Ghost the musical.

The event was at the Piccadilly Theatre, London, and started with the bloggers and their guests being led down to the bar where we were able to redeem a complimentary Godminster cocktail while we waited for our Nazila Love Glamour manicure.

The nail kits are amazing, each Nail Glitz packs contain 24 nails of different sizes and designs, which you can combine to create your unique manicure. Dubbed the “ghost nails” the nails are black and silver and have 3D bows, diamante and chains attached. They are very striking on and I although I had the full set some of the staff wore accent nails, which also looked very effective.

They are very long but I was told by Nazila herself that you can just cut and file the nails down to the length you prefer. I love the shape of these nails so I would be reluctant to cut them down but I may try filing those that I can starting at the back of the nail so that I don’t lose the shape.

After getting the manicure and having a chat with some fellow beauty bloggers we headed to our seats to watch Ghost. I have to admit, having seen the film, I wasn’t sure how it could be adapted to the theatre but the action scenes and special effects were amazing and I really enjoyed the show.

As if all that wasn’t enough, after the show we were all invited on stage and met the two leading members of the cast! You can check them on YouTube.

GIVE-AWAY!!

As a bonus I have been offered the chance to give-away a pair of tickets to see Ghost the musical to one lucky blog reader. Entering is simple, leave a comment with “enter me” on this post, including an email address or twitter handle that I can contact you on if you are the winner!

There are a few rules (please see the full terms and conditions below):

The prize on offer is two tickets to see Ghost the musical for a showing on Monday-Thursday until 13 September 2012. 

1. You can only enter once
2. You must be aged 18 or over and be a UK resident.
3. The giveaway will run for two weeks closing at midnight on 8th June. I will then select a winner using random.org and contact them within 48 hours. The winner will then have 48 hours to reply or another winner will be selected.

Check out my Facebook page for more pictures of the event and the ghost nails!

Good luck! 

Terms & Conditions

• This competition is free to enter and no purchase is necessary. Only one entry per person.
• Entrants to this competition must be aged 18 or over and a resident in the UK.
• The competition prize includes: 2 tickets to Ghost The Musical valid Monday-Thursday until 13^th September.
• The immediate families of the blog offering the competition are not entitled to enter.
• milktwosugars Limited reserves the right to amend and/or withdraw the competition at any time without prior notice.
• The blog editor will randomly select a winner from all valid entries.
• No cash option or alternative to prizes offered.
• The winners will be notified by the blog editor following the closing date of the competition.
• Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to be bound by them.
• The judge's decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
• The promoter of the competition is milktwosugars Limited.

Quick review: Stylfile

I wouldn’t usually feel the need to blog about a nail file. In the past I have always used crystal nail files because they are long lasting and are meant to be kinder to nails than traditional emery nail files. However, I was intrigued by the Stylfile, creation of Tom Pellereau (the inventor), from the 2011 series of the apprentice.

The Stylfile is an S-shaped file, which is designed to follow the curve of the nail to help make the process of shaping nails easier… and it does! The file has two different abrasive sides, as you would find with most emery files, one for shaping and the other to smooth. It did feel a little strange to hold and use at first but I did find that once I got used to this the whole process of filing my nails was a lot quicker and I was really pleased with the result.

I think this is a great product for the price (£4.49) and would be particularly good for anyone who has difficulty shaping their nails evenly and easily. There are also two other files available one that includes a buffer and another smaller “emergency file” designed to be attached to keys or thrown into a handbag for travel use, which I love the look of, since it is contained in a spring, which stops the file from scratching anything in your bag!

This is one of those products that I wonder “why has no one thought of this before?!” I would love to know what you think and also what beauty related products you think should have come about sooner. 

Nails of the week: Rimmel caramel cupcake

It is very rare that I wear remove nail polish only to reapply the same shade again. But that is exactly what  I have done with a new polish I picked up from Rimmel called “Caramel cupcake”.

I’ve gone off wearing colours on my nails recently, I think it is probably due to the lack of good weather the past two months, but at the same time I don’t like the look of my bare nails.

Caramel cupcake is a great nude shade, from a distance it almost blends in with my skin tone — I’m not quite sure if that is a good thing!

Unfortunately I don’t love the formulation of the polish, although it does dry very quickly — I didn’t test to see if it was actually 60 seconds — it does look slightly streaky and one coat doesn’t give the level of opacity that I like.

That being said I still love the colour and I am now on the look out for the perfect nude polish.

Bourjois bronzing powder

The Bourjois bronzing powder was something that I had my eye on for years but never took the plunge to purchase until I visited the pop-up shop… and I am very glad I did.

I have never owned a matte bronzer and always wanted one for the purpose of contouring as well as adding a light touch of colour — and this product works perfectly for both.

I chose the lighter of the two shades, 51. The powder is fine, has a smooth texture and can be built up and applies easily. In the pan you can see flecks of glitter but this doesn’t transfer onto the skin and the powder looks more matte.

The bronzer comes in cute, sturdy packaging. It is known as the chocolate bronzer — well mainly because it has a picture of chocolate on the packaging — but also because the powder resembles a chocolate bar. It also has a subtle, sweet scent, which makes it feel like a much more luxurious product than the £4.99 price tag and with 16.5g of product I don’t see myself hitting pan on this quickly.

LellyBean bags

For those of you who follow me on twitter you would have seen me post a picture with my own personalised jute bag made by LellyBeans.

The bag was designed and made by my wonderful friend Lesley, aka LellyBeans, who I stayed with in Dubai. I was lucky enough to be there for the creation of my bag watching what started as an outline turn into me!

LellyBeans is a very talented artist, she starts off with a basic outline of the eyes and face and slowly builds this up into a character. My bag took around three hours to make, the best bit for me was seeing my hair come to life and slowly fill up the space on the bag — which is my favourite feature!

I chose to have one of the larger style bags, which I used as a beach/pool bag as well as a shopping bag whilst in Dubai. It fits a huge amount and the fabric of the bag means that I don’t feel like I am overloading it.

You can see pictures of the creation of the bag on the LellyBeans facebook page as well all the other bag and more information.

Would love to know what you think of the bag and please head to Facebook to like the page and follow on LellyBeans on twitter.

Kiko stripes magnet (for magnetic polish)

I picked up a stripes nail magnet from Kiko for a bargain price of £2. I have so many nail polishes, including magnetic ones, and I loved that I could purchase this separately and use it with what I already own.

At least that’s what I was thinking. The magnet is flat and quite large, which should be a good thing, but this also makes it really difficult to hold steady.

I have no pictures to show of my nails because I found the whole process so frustrating and eventually I gave up and just painted my nails as usual. The magnets I own from Nails Inc and FashionistA all have ridges to help you position them across the nail, which makes it much easier to hold the magnet steady and at a good height to get the effect. Because the Kiko magnet is flat I really struggled to hold it close without touching my nails, and the times I did manage that I didn’t get an effect.

I am assuming it is all to do with the magnet design and that it is not actually faulty? I would love to hear from anyone who has tips on how to make this magnet work…..otherwise the new Barry M offerings are calling.

Liz Earle Intensive Nourishing Treatment Mask

The intensive nourishing treatment mask by Liz Earle is something that has been a part of my skin care routine for years and a firm favourite.

There are a few reasons I love this mask.

1) It does what it says — it is a moisturising mask and therefore suits my dry skin perfectly.

2) It is easy to use — slap on a generous layer all over the skin leave for 10-15 minutes and wipe off the excess. It doesn’t dry and create clumps that are difficult to remove or stain my cloths so no mess and no fuss.

These are not the most attractive photos I know, but they do show how the mask works. After applying a generous layer all over a clean face and leaving for 15 minutes all the dry areas of skin — which in my case is all of it — soak up the mask. I then wipe away the residue using a muslin cloth, tone and moisturise.

3) You can use it as often as you like — this might not matter to anyone else, but I would use a facemask every day if I could, so the fact that this one can be used as often as needed means that if I just feel like a pamper session this is a good mask to choose.