I've been using the same mascara for the past two years. Jordana Best Lash Extreme is my number one babe and I have zero intentions of replacing it, but if another one crosses my path, I can assure you, it's getting tried out. I got the Smashbox X-Rated Mascara a couple of months ago in a goodie bag, and while it doesn't tick all the boxes for me, I think I'll still use it when going for a 'no makeup' makeup look. 

I have to give it two thumbs up for separating and holding the curl, epsecially for holding the curl. My eyelashes are pretty straight and they always end up falling flat, but not with this mascara. They stay the same throughout the day, without flaking, and there's some lengthening going on as well. What disappointed me, though, was the volume promises. It really doesn't add anything to my lashes, so I'm very surprised it's marketed as a volumizing mascara. I think it's the wand that fails to deliver, as the bristles are quite far apart. Amazing for separation, but not ideal for volume, I guess. 

For the price (19.50 GBP), I would expect much more and wouldn't purchase it myself to be honest. I wonder how other mascaras of theirs perform... Have you tried any?

P.S. Here's my first impression of the mascara along with the demo in case you haven't watched it yet.

Any fellow near-blind ladies out there?! I can't see a thing without my glasses or contacts, and if you're blessed with less than perfect eyesight yourself, you'll know that applying makeup can be a slightly tricky business, especially first thing in the morning. I'm actually ashamed to admit the amount of times I got so close to the mirror my brush handle ended up hitting the mirror while the other side poked me straight into the eye... Please tell me I'm not the only one! Anyway, I've been wearing glasses and contacts for the past ten years, and I think it's safe to say I managed to figure out some great application techniques and tricks that help bring out your features despite the specs and make your eyes feel comfortable all day long when you're wearing your contacts.

As mentioned, if you're short-sighted, applying makeup without your glasses on can be an interesting process. First things first, I noticed that it's a whole lot easier for me to apply makeup with short-handled brushes, as I can get closer to the mirror and actually see what I'm doing. I also find that light, neutral shades on the eyelids work best. I mean, if you're feeling the smokey eye, obviously go for it, but with my glasses already creating shades around the eye area, I prefer brightening things up and leaving bolder shades for my lips. Large frames, which I personally am a fan of, also bring attention to the under eye area, so concealer is a must, and I also like to add a bit of eyeshadow under my eyes for some definition. When I'm wearing glasses, I never focus on creating gorgeous, layered eye makeup looks. The frame usually runs straight through that bit, so I rather apply a single shade and pop on some mascara. Speaking of which, curling your lashes beforehand is a must! If I don't do it, my lashes always end up hitting the lenses, and I'm sure you agree it's the most annoying thing ever. For the same reason, I also stay away from super lengthening and volumizing mascaras. For additional definition, a thin eyeliner on the upper lid works way better. And now my favourite part - the eyebrows. I always make sure mine look perfect, and I suggest you add some definition to yours too, especially when you're wearing glasses. Trust me, it makes all the difference. Moving away from the eyes, a nice, soft blush is your friend too. It instantly brightens up and lifts up the face, adding some much needed colour to the neutral eye zone. 

When you're wearing lenses, you can go with pretty much whatever look floats your boat, as there's no frames to disrupt your face, so to speak. But what you have to be more careful about are the actual products you use. Breathable daily disposable contacts like Focus Dailies by FeelGoodContacts are a good place to start. You'll avoid itchy, dry and bloodshot eyes, as using a brand new pair every day will prevent you from putting in an already used pair that potentially contains particles of makeup you wore the day before. Eye drops can be a life saver as well! I make sure to have some in my bag every time I'm on the go, especially if I'm wearing heavy makeup, which tends to make its way into my eyes by the end of the day. If you're wearing powder products, it's bound to happen, which is why cream products are much kinder to the eyes, along with hypoallergenic products and products suitable for sensitive eyes. Having said that, if you can't stay away from all the amazing powder pigments like I can't, just make sure you at least close your eyes during the application. And definitely, definitely stay away from applying eyeliners in the waterline. Oh, and avoid flaky, clumpy and fiber mascaras. They're the worst. Just two weeks ago, when I was trying out a new mascara, I had a 'contacts meet mascara fall out' situation on my hands, and it wasn't pretty...

That's it from me today! I do hope there's someone out there who will find my tips helpful. But really, out of curiousity, how many of you are wearing glasses or contacts? Let me know in a comment below!  

I don't like spending money on mascaras. I think drugstore ones are perfectly fine if not better than their high end sisters, and after finding my soul mate in Jordana's Best Lash Extreme, I'm actually perfectly fine with not buying any other mascara until the rest of my life. Having said that, I'm still a beauty blogger and us beauty bloggers love trying out anything and everything that falls under the beauty category, especially if the product is hyped up. Oh, the joys of clever subconscious marketing. 

Benefit's They're Real Mascara was never on my to-buy list due to its hefty price tag (€27), but when I saw the deluxe mini version being sold at Boots for the price of a normal, drugstore mascara, I decided to give it a go. Just to see if it's really worth the hype, you know.

So, is it? Worth the hype? I say no. In theory, it has the potential of being the perfect mascara, but I have one major problem with it. Spider lashes! The more I apply, the less eyelashes I seem to have. The 'after' photo you see below is the result of a 15-minute-long separation process. It's such a shame it clumps so badly on me! Otherwise, it's a perfectly good mascara. It gives you length, holds the curl, and doesn't smudge throughout the day. 

The only thing that bothers me as well is the brush, which has really scratchy bristles. My eyes start getting ready for the war as soon as they see the brush approaching, and the result is never pretty. I always have to have cotton tips soaked in Bioderma ready in the other hand. I don't know what it is. It's not the size, because I'm used to huge brushes. Maybe it's the material or something? Who knows. 

As you might have guessed, I will not be purchasing the full size and would suggest you to give it a miss too in case you're one of us very late bandwagoners. I really don't think it's as fabulous as some are making it sound. There are drugstore mascaras out there that work just as good/much better and won't cost you a kidney either. What are your thoughts? Have you tried it yourself or at least thought about giving it a go? 

It's no secret that Essence is one of my all time favourite drugstore brands. I've been using their products for ages and have tried plenty of them, so I hought I would share the selection of my top 5 with you today. I'm really glad that the brand was launched in the UK as well recently, as I can't imagine my life on the island without some of their gems. Find out which in the video below! 

It seems to me as though I've blogged about the Essence mascara not more than a week ago, but here I am again with a review of another widely loved mascara. The Essence one dried up in an instant and gave me no choice but to replace it with one of the eight mascaras still sitting patiently in my eye makeup drawer, waiting for me to finally try them out. The first one in line was Yves Rocher's Sexy Pulp, which I've heard is one of their best selling products. Being the favourite of many definitely set my hopes high and I couldn't wait to finally start coating my lashes with it. 

According to the text displayed on the packaging, Sexy Pulp is supposed to be an ultra-volumizing mascara, but volume is the only thing this mascara doesn't give me. It does lengthen my lashes without clumping them up, gives an initial curl, and opens up my eyes, but there is no sign of volume. Major disappointment. I find it great for bottom lashes, as it gives me a doll like effect that optically enlarges my eyes, but I get no enjoyment whatsoever from using it on my top lashes. The only thing that I like about the formula is that it isn't too wet or too dry and needs a bit of time to settle, so you can easily build it up without getting crunchy spidery lashes. Having said that, the drying part might also be considered a con, as the mascara easily transfers to the places it doesn't belong to, so you have to be careful not to blink too much for a minute or god forbid sneeze, which is mission impossible for me during this time of the year. Thanks, allergies, thanks. Another thing that bothers me is that it doesn't hold the curl particularly long, so my lashes tend to drop back down, but what I hate most about this product is the wand. It's terribly humongous. It's the only wand I can't seem to get under control. Not once have I applied this mascara without getting it all over my lids and under my eyes. And that's coming from a girl who is used to operating with huge wands. 

Not to be too negative over here, the mascara does have some pros as well. I haven't experienced any fall-out with this one and it also doesn't smudge under my eyes (once I sort out the smudginess from application). Oh, and it does a damn good job when it comes to lengthening, so if you're looking for a good lenghthening mascara, this is the one you might want to take for a ride. I myself am more of a volume seeker, so I'll be saying 'au revoir' to this one once it dries up. P.S. I have a feeling I'll have this one around for quite a while before it meets the bin, because I've been using it on a daily basis for the past month and the formula hasn't changed a bit. 

So, there you have it, my opinion about this popular product. Am I the only one that isn't smitten by it? Have you tried it yourself and had similar experience? Let me know! 

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Meet my current favourite mascara. Essence's I Love Extreme Crazy Volume Mascara is hands down one of my best make-up finds and proves that lower priced products should never be underestimated. Priced at about three euros, this is the cheapest mascara I've ever tried. I think that a great deal of drugstore mascaras perform wonderful, which is why I've never had the need to get my hands on any high end ones, but I had no idea that the cheapest of them all would end up stealing my heart.

The mascara comes with a big plastic wand, which might be a little bit hard to handle at first. I'm quite used to big wands, so I personally didn't have any problems with maneuvering, but if you are a little bit clumsy when it comes to mascara application, it might be hard for you to reach the inner corners. Having said that, the wand does have some bristles at the very top, which can be very handy.

The initial formula is somewhere between wet and dry, but I would consider it more on the dry side since the mascara dries out really fast. You definitely need to follow the thee month rule with this one and throw it away, because I started experiencing a lot of flaky fall out after a couple of months. The flakes just ruin your makeup, because they get smudged all over the face and you can quickly start to look like you've just climbed out of a chimney, so listen to me and throw it away when it's time. Luckily, it's cheap, so you can always purchase a new one.


Excluding the drying out annoyance, the formula is pretty fab. It doesn't make your eyelashes stick together, adds a bit of length, holds the curl, and provides some volume. Unfortunatelly, not extreme crazy volume, like the name suggests, but it gives a great everyday definition. You can see how it looks like on my naturally completely straight and therefore hardly visible lashes in the photo above. I didn't use an eyelash curler this time like I normally do.

I Love Extreme Crazy Volume Mascara is not groundbreaking, but it ticks all the boxes when it comes to my daily mascara requirements. And the fact that it costs only three euros is just an added bonus! I'll not be running to the store to repurchase it right away, because I have two other highly praised mascaras in my drawer that I need to try out first, but I'm 100% certain we will meet again soon. Have you tried this mascara yourself? What are your thoughts?

January has come to an end, so you know what this means. It's time for new favourites videos! Today I have the beauty one for you, and surprisingly, it's not extremely long. Since I spent most of January in my bed recovering from a nasty cold or at a doctor's office trying to get my knee sorted out, I haven't been wearing much make-up, so I only have five product to talk about this month. You can find the list of products mentioned here in the description box. 

When I stumbled across a Rimmel stand while I was in France, I knew that I had to pick up at least a few items! We don't have Rimmel in my country and I always keep hearing about their fabulous stuff. I myself only have one of their products - the Scandaleyes Eyeliner in Nude that I got in London - and I really love it, so I couldn't wait to try out the mascara I ended up buying.

When I saw the Scandaleyes Mascara up there in front of me, I remembered that I'd read a few reviews on it, but I couldn't remember if the reviews were positive or negative. I didn't want to risk leaving an amazing mascara behind me, so I ended up taking it home with me. As soon as I came home, though, I looked up the reviews and found out that most people hate this mascara. Well, crap. But you know what? I don't think that it deserves such bad reviews. There is definitely some room for improvement, but it is not THAT bad.

Now the first thing that might bother some of you is a humongous brush. I've had quite a few mascaras with big brushes, but this one is really, really big. I'm used to huge brushes by now, so I know how to make it work, but if you're not used to them, this one might cause you a few problems. Mascara can easily get all over your lid and it is quite hard to reach the smaller, inner lashes. Another minus for me is that it dries very quickly, so you need to work fast if you want to apply several coats. Once it dries, the additional layering will give you spider lashes, which I hate. 

Now on to the good stuff. I like it because it doesn't clump my lashes (unless it dries up before I manage to put on extra coats), it adds decent length, and doesn't smudge under my eyes even though I use it on my bottom lashes as well. I think it gives me that great 'doll eyes' look! The volume could be better, especially because the brush is SO big. I really expected this mascara to give me a lot of volume after seeing the brush, but it turns out to be quite average. Despite its few annoying features, I'll keep wearing this mascara because I figured out how to make it work for me, but I would love to hear your thoughs. Have you tried it yourself? How do you feel about it?

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Maybelline is the company I always come back to when I'm on a search for a new mascara. I've tried quite a few Maybelline mascaras so far and have been very impressed with most of them. Therefore, I had very high expectations for the Rocket Volum' Express Mascara. Especially when I saw the big rubber brush. But does this mascara really deserve the hype?

I am not so sure to be honest. While this is still a very decent mascara, it doesn't really give me any volume, which is a bit disappointing. Having said that, it does lift your lashes up, lengthen them and is very good when it comes to separating. It doesn't clump my lashes even when I apply several coats, which is something that I appreciate a lot because my naturally clumpy eyelashes can sometimes be a pain to work with.

I'd been using the same mascara - Avon's Supershock - for years, but since I had some really bad experience with Avon Slovenia's customer service a few months ago, I stopped ordering their products (which is a shame, because they have some really great ones)! As a result, I had to go look for a new mascara as soon as I ran out of the Avon one. A while back, Revlon's Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara seemed to be quite popular around the blogosphere, so I decided to give that one a try. 

I quickly discovered that the mascara wand doesn't have plactic but natural bristles, which I never really got along with, but I decided to pick the mascara up anyways. What a risk taker I am!

When I tried it out for the first time, I was really disappointed. It made my lashes very clumpy, which is what I was most afraid of, as all the wands with natural bristles seem to have that effect on my lashes. Being all depressed that I basically threw my money out of the window, I put it away and went back to using my already dry Avon Supershock Mascara. A few weeks later, when my Avon mascara became totally and completely useless, I decided to give the Revlon one another go, and I finally figured out a way to use it. I realized that it can look great on my lashes if I apply only one coat. As soon as I try to apply more coats, my lashes turn into a clumpy spidery mess, which you can see in the photos below. In the first photo, I'm not wearing any mascara, in the second I have one coat, and in the third two coats. 

Putting the clumpy issues aside, this mascara is actually a great lengthening mascara that is also long lasting and doesn't smudge. It doesn't add any volume, though, and I find the brush too big and clumsy to reach my inner lashes. Do you have any experience with this mascara? I would love to hear your thoughts. 

I'd been wanting this palette for quite some time after seeing all the amazing reviews and I'm really glad I decided to buy it. I can actually say that it is my all time favorite beauty product. The palette comes with 12 eye shadows, which are perfect for day and night looks. They are very pigmented, great for blending and have a strong staying power. I have to say that the two brown matte colors could be a little bit more pigmented, but I can overlook this flaw since all the other eye shadows are so amazing. The packaging is also really cool. It's compact, the size is great for travelling, and it also comes with an aplicator and a great big mirror. All in all, I would strogly recommend this palette to everyone. It's such a bargain!

Price: 8,5€ for 12x1.1g    (I got it for 11€ in my country)


ONE BY ONE VOLUM' EXPRESS MASCARA BY MAYBELLINE

Price: I paid about 10€ for 10,4 ml
Avaliable here


AVON NATURALS HONEY LIP BALM



Price: 1,70€ for 15 ml

Avon's Supercurlacious Mascara was definitely my go to mascara this summer. What I love about it is that it gives you very natural look, it curles your lashes, adds them some length, it doesn't smudge and there are NO clumps. I also have to mention that it has a dry formula, so you don't have to worry about accidentally getting it all over your lid or under your bottom lashes, which I find really annoying with the ''wet'' mascaras. The only thing some people might not like is that it doesn't give much volume to you lashes. But then again, this is not a volumizing mascara so if you want one, I recommend you to buy some other one. 

The brush is curved and really helps you open up your eyes. Because of the shape and all those bristles, it also reaches all of your small and corner lashes, and seperates them really nicely. 

Here you can see how my lashes look after applying one coat of mascara. When I'm using this mascara, I usually do only one coat because I want my lashes to look as natural as possible, but you can definitely build it up. When applying more coats, it curls up and lengthens your lashes even more, but it doesn't clump them like most other mascaras would do. 

Here are the final before and after photos with one coat of mascara. I used an eyelash curler before applying the mascara on the left eye, but not on the right one.