Guess who's back, back again (insert the Eminem tune)? As you might have noticed, I haven't published a non-youtubey blog post in ages. The reason behind is mainly the lack of time, but also the fact that my passion for blogging started dying out and eventually got replaced with YouTube.

Blogging has always been about the community for me, which is why I felt less and less motivated to blog when the feedback plummeted and everything started revolving around money and competition for free products. I can't say that YouTube is much different, to be completely honest, but the interactivity and the community spirit is still there, which is why I enjoy doing it a lot more right now. 

Having said that, I do miss blogging. I miss taking photos, which is one of my favourite things to do, and I miss just sitting in my bed at midnight, sipping my tea and typing my thoughts away. So, here I am. This is my official 'I'm not going anywhere' notice. I'm hoping to post at least one proper blog post a week from now on to get things going again, but if don't manage, that's alright too. I don't want to put pressure on myself and fall out of love with blogging once again, so I'm taking things slowly this time around...

Today I'll be reviewing two products I got to choose from Born Pretty Store. I opted for a gel eyeliner, which has been missing from my collection ever since I moved to London, and a mini beauty blender dupe. I've been using nothing but wet makeup sponges to apply my base lately, so I thought it would come in handy at one point or another. 

The eyeliner is a dream to work with, as it glides on with ease and doesn't disappoint in the pigmentation department, but unfortunatelly, this is where our love affair ends. Despite being marketed as waterproof, it doesn't stay on me very well. It just doesn't set and whenever I go out, the London humidity gets the better of it. I once returned home from a ten minute walk with eyeliner literally dripping off my eyes. I was mortified and don't even want to know how many people saw me looking like a complete mess. Long story short, this would be an amazing eyeliner if it actually was waterproof, but since it's prone to melting off, I now wear it only inside, for filming.

Moving on to the mini sponge, which has become quite a staple in my daily makeup routine. I use it damp, as you should, and it does a great job at setting my under eye makeup wih loose powder. The size of it doubles when it's wet, but it's still small enough to reach every little corner around your eyes and nose. This is totally doable with the normal sized beauty blenders or their dupes as well, it's just easier and more precise when you have something smaller to work with. 

I do have to point out that this sponge works well just with the loose powder technique (tutorial here). When I used it to apply my foundation and concealer, it didn't do the job, as it made the products 'bounce around' instead of blending them into the skin. I find this a bit strange, as the sponge is actually very soft and would expect it to do an amazing job at buffing the products in, but oh well. 

Another thing I would like to mention in case you'll be giving it a go yourself (enter the code 'SANH10 for 10% off) is to be very gentle with it. Since it is very small and soft, it doesn't take a lot to rip it apart. I don't think mine will survive another wash. Oopsie!