Quickie Review: Revlon Lash Potion Mascara

One item on my beauty to-do list for 2014 is to find my Holy Grail mascara. I tend to stick to Maybelline mascaras which work well pretty for me, but I've never been head-over-heels for any single mascara. Naturally, due to the short-lived nature of mascaras, I'm starting my hunt on the high street and I was attracted to this gorgeously packaged mascara from Revlon. On an introductory price of £5, I couldn't say no!

 

Isn't that a pretty tube? I like mascara tubes that aren't black as it makes them easier to find in my makeup bag. I know it’s not the nicest photo, but it’s so shiny I couldn’t snap it in direct light!

This mascara has, as seems to still be de rigeur in mascaras, a really large bristle brush. The bristles are spaced out to make 3 sections on the wand. I was sceptical of this huge brush as my lashes are quite short and I tend to have trouble with large brushes, especially on my lower lashes. I didn't find it bad on my top lashes and the way the brush is split into sections helps in not getting it all over your lashline, but it's not the easiest to use on your lower lashes.

I like the effect of this mascara on my lashes - it gives decent volume and length without being too much, although it does have a slight tendency to look spidery if you really want to build it up. On first application, I really enjoyed this mascara. It wasn't omgwow, but it was pretty nice…. And here comes the "but"! The staying power of this mascara is total crap! I looked in the mirror around lunchtime and had huge raccoon circles! I put it down to my new concealer, but didn't use that the following day and still encountered smudges. Boo! I don't wear mascara on my lower lashes everyday, especially during the week, but I’d like the option, thanks!

I’d be tempted to try out a waterproof version of this, but the smudging just makes this a total no-go for me – really, really not what I want in a mascara at all! Sorry Lash Potion, but Shantay, you don’t stay.

Have you tried any Revlon Mascaras? What’s your current favourite?

Quickie Review: Topshop Lip Bullets in Joyride and Heartbeat

I’m not that up to speed with Topshop makeup – I’ve tried a few bits and bobs but I’d rather spend my pocket money on Topshop’s Freedom jewellery range so never really got stuck into the makeup. One of their lip bullets caught my eye on a lunch break recently so in the name of, err, science, I bought two to test!

Oh Topshop, please stop with the white packaging! It looks dead cute but already the tips of my pencils are covered in the product and I know they’ll pick up smeg from my makeup bag no matter what. I do like that these are twist-up pencils though, and that they have the classic lipstick bullet shape rather then being a blunt pencil.

Joyride:

Ohhh, how I love this colour! Helpfully described on the Topshop site as ‘RED,’ it’s slightly less blue-based than it looks here and gives the most beautiful ‘I’ve just eaten an ice lolly’ stain but still with heaps of shine. It’s very slick and smooth on the lips and wears a whole lot better over a lipliner, but it doesn’t bleed or feather. I get around an hour with the glossiness, and it leaves a stain. While it’s slick, I wouldn’t say it was moisturising, it just happily sits there!

Heartbeat:

I simply can’t accurately capture this one folks – sorry! Heartbeat is an orange-coral in the tube that translates a touch more pink on the lips. I’m actually disappointed it looks as pink as it does on me because in store it looked much more orange – I’ve seen other bloggers disappointed by this as well, so be warned. It’s described on the site as ‘peachy pink’ and that’s much more accurate. There’s something about this particular shade that looks almost frosty, even though there’s no shimmer – my lips are in good nick at the moment but this is not going to be a shade that’ll fare well on dry lips. While I do like it, I much prefer the other colour I bought, even though this is the one that caught my eye! Comfort and wear time is the same as Joyride, though.

 

While these are nothing special, they’re nice additions to a summer makeup bag and I really love the red colour! I think they’re fairly reasonably priced, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to collect them all, but if another colour caught my eye… oh well! ;)

Lip Bullets cost £8.00 and be found in store and on www.Topshop.com