Comparing mascaras

After posting about the Benefit 'They're real' mascara that I got for Christmas, as few people wanted an in depth review, so I thought I'd compare with with some other mascaras I frequently use.

Benefit 'They're real'

I thought I'd start with the two more 'high' end, expensive ones first. So 'They're real' and me have a love/hate relationship. Sometime I love it, sometime it makes my eyes sting and my lashes clumpy. I find that it doesn't do well with layering it, to get thicker and thicker looking lashes as you can you other mascaras. And it actually works best over another mascara (the Rimmel further down this list). Not what you want in a pricey mascara like this, ideally, but when it does work, it looks amazing. So as I said, love/hate!
Chanel 'Inimitable'
I do love this mascara, and have done for the past 4 years or so, I have periods of loving it, and then going off it. It does make your lashes look separated and truly black, but I find I always have to use eyelash curlers with this one as it doesn't curl my lashes that well. 

Soap and Glory 'Thick and fast'

Now for the high street/drug store ones. This Soap and glory mascara is a favourite of mine. It works every time and give me fully, thick, curled(ish- as much as my straight lashes can be curled!) lashes. My only gripe is that it doesn't last, after about 3 months, the mascara starts to become flakey and very dry.

Maybelline 'Big eyes' 
This is a fairly new purchase so I'm still making up my mind on this one. At the moment I really like it, I don't really use the little brush for lower lashes, more for combing out the top lashes- which it does and looks great! 

Rimmel 'Scandaleyes Lycra flex'
This one was purchased only because of a deal Rimmel had going on, and not because I was after this particular one. However after using it a few times- and with the 'They're real' as mentioned earlier, it works really well. It's not the best at separating lashes, however it does coat them very well and curl them.

What's your favourite mascaras? Do you have a high end or high street fav?

Night time

I've seen a lot of Youtubers post a 'nighttime' routine videos lately, so I thought I'd throw in my two cents, blogwise. Now I don't know about you, but a lot of the Youtube 'Gurus' seem to have oooodles of time, putting on face masks and running luxurious baths- at the weekend maybe, but in the week I just don't have time for that! (Ain't nobody got time for that!)

Mine is pretty simple, and sometimes I'm a bit lazy and don't even remove my make-up ! :(

So it starts out with the Bioderma Sensibo micellar water to remover my makeup, then washing my face with the Superdrug (dupe for Liz earle) hot cloth Vitamin E cleanser.

Once I'm done with that I use 1-2 drops of my Antipodes divine oil, about 3 times a week, and rub this into my face. Once that has settled I'll use either my Origins Night-a-Mins moisturiser, or my Origins Drink up Intensive overnight mask. Add some Origin's eye cream and I'm good to go, off to the land of ZZzzzz's. 

What's your nightime routine? Do you have time for a long luxurious routine like the 'gurus' or is sleep too important like me?

Hand heroes

So in the same theme as my 'hair heroes' last week I thought I'd do a 'hand heroes' of the moment.

The Burt's bee lemon butter cuticle cream has been a solid fav for many years, it smells lovely and softens the cuticles.

One of my favourite brands of hand cream: Crabtree and Evelyn. After getting this scent for Christmas it's become a frequent product in my handbag. It smells fresh and floral-y, and sightly perfume-y all the the same time, and makes my hands sooo soft!

Next for nails, I love the OPI nail envy polish and use mine as a base coat as well as repairing nails. I have to say this particular one isn't the best (although it's still better than other brands I've tried), as I think the best is the matte nail envy. But hey ho, I couldn't find that one on eBay so this will have to do.

A new colour I'm loving right is Essie's Bordeaux, the perfect deep red, wine shade!

And ol' faithful, my Seche Vite, I won't ramble on about why I love it and it's the best top coat out there, as so many other people already have- But seriously it really is!

What are your 'hand heroes'? Do you have a favourite base or top coat?

Life: Butternut squash soup

I love making this soup, the only part I HATE is chopping up the bloody butterrnut squash! It's such a pain. But once you get over this, the rest is easy peasy!

So this is what I like to use, most recipes say to use celery, but I'm not a fan so use fennel and a leek instead. I like to add a tiny bit of spice with a deseeded chilli-but this is optional! You'll need:

a butternut squash, a red pepper, an onion, a leek, a fennel bulb, 2 carrots, a sweet potato and thyme and basil.

To start off with I like to saute the onion, leek, fennel, pepper chilli in a pan with some oil (as I think it brings out more flavour), then simply chuck in the rest of the veg and boil with the stock and herbs until soft and blend! Simples

Do you like Butternut squash? Hoe do you like to cook it? 

Hair heroes

I really haven't felt like blogging lately, but this week I finally felt 'inspired' again and I'm back rambling about my 'hair heroes' or things I like to put in/use on my hair!
My 'hair heroes' of the moment are the L'Oreal mythic oil, the Tangle Teezer and the Phil Smith Argan oil cream. I find all three work amazingly well together, especially when using heat on my hair.

Since I've been dying (and bleaching) my hair for the past 5 years or so, it always gets frizzy on the ends, so I find this argan oil cream works a treat to combat it! And the same with brushing; since dying it, it's been a lot more knotty and harder to brush, and the Tangle Teezer is perfect for it. I don't know why I went so long with out one!
And lastly, this is one of my favourite hair oil, it smells amazing and makes my hair feel amazing. 'Nuff said

What are your hair heroes?