Too Faced Double Lip Injection Plumper, £22



Too Faced Double Lip
Injection Plumper

'Too Faced Double Lip Injection Plumper' is like Marmite – you either love it, or you hate it.

I for one absolutely love it!

It’s like Botox but without the painful injection and reoccurring costs.

Oh and it’s not permanent, so you can choose when you want to wear it.

The lip injecting gloss has two ends: one gives the pout up to an extra 20% plump and the other smoothes and repairs any cracks.*

Lips Before

Everything needed to make your lips extremely luscious.

But like everything these days: no pain, no gain.

Well, I wouldn’t say painful exactly. It just tingles. A lot. For about two minutes. Some like it, some don’t.

It’s like plucking your eye brows. I actually like that pain. It’s not like a painful pain but more an irritating pain which lasts for minimal time and you know that you’re going to look amazing when it’s done.



Lips After



The pink end - lip plumper – not only gives your smile volume but also adds colour. In fact, my pout looks so glossy, healthy and pumped after using this, I don’t need to use anything else. The idea is it stimulates the blood to the surface, making them bigger and brighter.

The faint shimmer of glitter gives you that extra sparkle and shine as well.

Totally Kissable!

And let me tell you ladies, your lips look deliciously kissable, believe me!

You can use the other end 24/7, when you’re awake or just before you sleep. The repairing serum really does smoothen out those cracks in your dry lips – something we all suffer with this time of year. Apparently it offers long-term effects, proven by scientific research!* It must be good eh!

Not heard of the brand: ‘Too Faced’ before? Join the many other cosmetic lovers who have only just been introduced this beautiful selection of beauty products.

If you love brands like Benefit then you are sure to love Too Faced.

Unfortunately, it does match their price range.

But at £22, I think that Too Faced has proven, yet again, to invest is best.

You don’t need to carry anything else for your lips other than this double-ended gloss plus it seems to last a long time. I’ve already had mine two months and it barely looks touched.

The tingling sensation that hits when the gloss initially hits the lips is the only thing that could turn customers of the plumper.



Too Faced Double Lip
Injection Plumper



90% of the girls who've borrowed mine love it. The other 10%, along with my boyfriend - who I forced to test my new buy - weren't the biggest fans. I suppose you can't please everyone ey!

Overall rating: 4/5

Until next time, happy pampering.

*http://www.toofaced.com/p-497-lip-injection-duo.aspx

Note: This has been written for entertainment purposes only. This is all my own opinion, I am basing it on my own individual experiences. 

Benefit: ‘day to night look’

Benefit Make Over

So last week, the girls and I went for our very own makeovers at ‘San Francisco’s Beloved Beauty Brand’: BenefitCosmetics.

This was the perfect time to see whether investing is best.

When making the latest additions to my beauty bag, I’ve found myself asking: does breaking into the bank equal quality? Or should I save my pennies and hope for the same perfect products but for a smaller price?

And although my purse tends not to agree, more and more I seem to be investing in cosmetic products and, as I thought, the majority of the time they last longer and look better.

Benefit is the perfect example to support my argument: quality is definitely better than quantity.

The first make over achieved a look that could work during a day at the office and carry on into the night out.

Now girlies, before you do anything – moisturise!

I always moisturise before applying my foundation. I don’t like it when you can ‘see’ that you’re wearing foundation. Do you know what I mean? It makes your skin look crackly and dry. Bleurgh!

Note: I have dry-ish skin, so moisturising is good. If you have more oily skin then seek advice from a professional on a beauty counter to see what suits your skin type best.

‘Triple Performing Moisturiser’, £19.50 – an ‘oil-free facial lotion*’ which locks in water.

After moisturising, I used ‘The Porefessional’, £23.50 – a primer used to ‘minimize the appearance of pores*’ and stops oils coming through, thus stopping that gradual greasy look that progresses throughout the day.

Another daily debate: tinted moisturiser or foundation? Here, I had ‘Yourebal’ tinted moisturiser, £23.50, which adapts to the skin tone of each individual. I often find a tinted moisturiser a lot lighter to wear than a thick foundation. I prefer it when you don’t feel like you have make up on – that sticky face feeling - you know what I’m on about ladies!

Next up:  a mixture of 'Boi-ing’ concealar, £16.50 and ‘Stay Don’t Stray’ concealer, £19.50 around the eyes and T-Zone.

And after a hefty base for my face, my eyes were ready and waiting.

As a base for my lids: ‘Velvet Eye shadow’, ‘Leggy’ shade, £13.50. I absolutely loved this colour! I’m not gonna lie, I am completely and utterly in love with the moroony plum colour that is so in trend at the moment. If I could, I would dress head to toe in this, and wear a face full of the colour! So of course, I loved my eyes when they were coated with this colour.

My lashes were lined with 'charcoal liner', £14 and painted with the current UK’s #1**: ‘they’re real! Mascara’, £18.50. Now, I don’t know how I felt about the mascara. It fanned them out nicely but it didn’t seem to curl them. I suppose you can’t have it all, can you?!

I was given a cheeky tip by a good friend though, after applying mascara, put your hairdryer on cool and then blow on your lashes for a few seconds (obviously from arm’s length). The blowing creates a natural curl to your lashes, so you don’t have to use a curler! Result!***

My cheek bones shined from ‘Watt’s Up’ highlighter, £24.50, followed by ‘Bella Bomba’ blusher – a blush which I was told suits any skin tone.

Brow before being 'zinged'

My brows! ‘Brow Zings’ brow shaping kit, £22.50.  

I've always been scared to do my brows but after having this done, I plan on doing it a lot more! I loved them! I found that having defined eyebrows highlighted my other features, in particular my eyes. I would definitely recommend doing your brows! 

But just be sure you don’t get too darker shade – you don’t want to look like you’re meant to be on stage! 

Half and Half

Finally: my lips. I adore showing off my lips with bold colours. And out came the plum colour again. ‘Full Finish’ lipstick, £14 – colour: Rumor.

Done! 

My three favourite products: 

1.'Brow Zings’ eye shaping kit, this should be on every princesse's Christmas list!

2.‘Full Finish’ lipstick, mainly because of the gorgeous colour and how soft it felt of my lips.

3.'Velvet Eye shadow’, again because of the amazing colour but also I love the smoky look it gave me that I could work day and night.

The Full Make Over

 The total cost of all products used on my face: £209.50

Ok, so maybe not that much investing but a couple of items won’t hurt.

The best bit is, all you need to do is book a free make over at a Benefit counter and you can test the products that are best suited to you before you buy! Fabulous!

To find any of those products mentioned and many more, visit: http://www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk/

But, if your bank balance can’t justify spending this much dollar on cosmetics then do not fear...

Soon I will be reviewing alternative products on the market, for half the price!

Until next time, happy pampering!

*http://www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk
**Nov/Dec 2011
***Catriona Harris

Note: This has been written for entertainment purposes only. This is all my own opinion, I am basing it on my own individual experiences. 

Rimmel 'Scandal Eyes' £6.99

Rimmel Scandal Eyes

I am definitely a lashes girl.

When I'm dolling up, the majority of my valuable time will be spent on making sure I have long, black and thick lashes lining my upper lid.

So, when I saw Rimmel's new 'Scandal Eyes' - "a scandalous mascara, ready to take your lashes to the next level"* - how could I resist?

Yeah, a next level of difficulty to put on!

After attempting to coat my ashes with the "30% wider and denser"** brush, I cannot begin to tell you the difficulty I faced when attempting to comb on the jet black gloop.

The mess made



It was in my eye; on my cheek and all over my eye lid. If you could have seen the amount of cotton buds I used to try and get the black mascara from those unwanted places, you would have thought I was the make-up artist for a whole circus!

After finally cleaning up - which meant taking half of it off my actual lashes in the process- it all started again. Put a layer on, clean up, put a layer on, clean up and so on until I gave up and decided to just stick with what I had.

"So big yet so precise", sorry Rimmel you've got it wrong this time.

If you're a working gal who needs a quick coat for your lashes in the morning, then unless you are willing to practice, I don't recommend this product.

On the other hand, if you're going on a big night out and want to look totally "Scandalous" and, unlike me, have the patience and time to create the perfect lash, then go for it - prove me wrong and work those lashes girlfriend!

Lashes before

I thought a bigger brush meant more thickness. I soon found out this is not the case.

Lashes after

Note, this mascara did give me length - I suppose it can't be all bad eh!

Oh and remember, this is only my opinion and my eyes, we're all different, you never know this could be the perfect coating for your lashes. After all, if we were all the same, life would be boring!

Length: tick

Volume: no tick

Precision: no tick

Easy to apply: definite no tick

Rimmel Scandal Eyes

At only £6.99, I thought I was getting my dream mascara at a bargain. In actual fact, this turned out to be a complete rip off.

C'mon Rimmel, we know you can do better.

Overall rating: 1/5

Until next time, happy pampering.

*http://www.rimmellondon.com/uk/products/scandaleyes/

**http://www.superdrug.com/other/rimmel-scandal-eyes-mascara-black/invt/300952/

Note: This has been written for entertainment purposes only. This is all my own opinion, I am basing it on my own individual experiences. 

Barry M Nail Paint, £2.99

Barry M Nail Paint, Raspberry

With the festive season fast approaching, purchasing Barry M Nail Paint - Raspberry (273) - seemed the perfect solution to get myself in the Christmas spirit.

The deep red glistened, as I scanned the rainbow of colours on the shelf, yelling out for me to buy it.

Freshly painted nails

As soon as I came home: off went the dull, chipped, old nail varnish and on went my shiny, glamorous, new shade.

After just one coat, my nails looked luscious.

Unlike previous products I've dressed my nails in, this one actually looked exactly like the colour of the bottle - a common crisis I face when I attempt to match my nails to that special party frock.

Not only did my fingertips look beautiful but Barry M lived up to their ‘quick-drying’ promise. Within minutes, my nails were dry and I was able to get on with my life.

Perfect colour: tick.

Smooth, shiny final look: tick.

Quick-drying: tick.

But long-lasting? think again.

Nails after four days

Unless you call four days long-lasting. But, if like me you long for a nail varnish that can last more than four showers, two doses of washing up and take a week of student life, this won't live up to expectations.

It is probably my index fingers that have suffered the most but that’s the case with most nail colours right?

Although I was going to experiment for a whole week, I just don’t think I can handle my chipped tips for much longer.

It’s coming off but it was princess perfect while it lasted.

Barry M Nail Paint, Raspberry

I would definitely recommend the polish for a girly night out, a romantic date or even if you just want to get in the mood as you wait for Santa to arrive.

With the price at just £2.99 it is a brilliant stocking filler or just a little something to treat yourself.

The only thing that lets Barry M’s Nail Paint down is the wear and tear.
As the website recommends, maybe I should use their base-coat before applying next time.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Buy: http://www.barrym.com/nail-paints

Until next time, happy pampering.

Note: This has been written for entertainment purposes only. This is all my own opinion, I am basing it on my own individual experiences.