If there is one thing I love since becoming a blogger, it’s the fact that I can receive samples now and don’t feel guilty about them being free, because I am always reviewing what I am sent and giving my opinions on the brands in return.
So today’s blog post is all about a sample I had from MAC which was a Mascara boasting a false lash look in extreme black. Of course every woman wants to have great looking eyes without hassle and too much effort. And it literally took me seconds to apply the sample mascara and I was so pleased with the results I took an unflattering selfie straight away to show you.
So you should be able to see from this image below the length and darkness of my lashes when the MAC mascara was applied. This is just one thin coating, so once dry you could apply more of it for a bolder look.
This small sample will go a long way I’m sure, and the mascara itself had barely any clumps when I applied it. The brush was good at coating my lashes but not that good at separating them. I found I was wiggling the brush and trying to separate my lashes with the end of the brush. Once I was satisfied I took this eye selfie to compare between my natural lashes and the ones coated with the MAC false lashes extreme black mascara.
For a small sample the brush was very good, it allowed for an even coverage of the product. I am unsure if this will be the identical brush used in the full sized product because I have not seen one, but it works well for its shape and size. It becomes narrower towards the end which is handy for the inner corners of the eye, and for coating lashes on the lower lash line.
I hope you have enjoyed this review, please keep reading to see my final scores on this sample product and another image comparing the appearance with my natural lashes too.
My final review for MAC false lashes extreme black mascara is;
Quality of Item 4/5
Effectiveness 4/5
Appearance 5/5
Thank you for reading this review, if you liked this beauty post then please consider subscribing so you don’t miss the next one. You can do that on my main page, and click the beauty category for more posts like this one.
Have a lovely day!
✩ Sabrina ✩
Cats Makeup Pouch
No7 Mystery Prize Gift Bag
When I opened the tape on the beautiful purple bag and looked inside, I saw a selection of items inside including samples, No7 items and what looked like some full sized products too. I decided to photograph all of the items together before testing or using any of them, so the next image depicts a flat lay of the things inside the prize. This is the reveal of what was contained in this prize.
Item 1. Estee Lauder – New Dimension Serum Sample
I’m looking forward to trying these products and the samples, if I’m impressed with anything I will probably write a blog post about that specific item. Although most of what was included seem to have one time uses unfortunately.
For me, I nearly always wear mascara on my eyes and powder on the skin on my face to reduce redness and any uneven skin tone. I felt that I already achieved this look on a regular basis, so I wanted to show how I did this and what products I have used. As you can see in the image above my makeup is subtle, used to mainly hide dark circles and blemishes and to remove any shine from my skin.
So what products have I used for the makeup half of this look. Well the mascara I used was a gentle application of Rimmel London’s Super Curler 24 hr Mascara (a little goes a long way).
I was pleasantly surprised with the quality, the nail polish applied smoothly and had a lovely shine to it. The colour I chose suited my skin tone and looked very flattering with a range of outfits as I wore it over the weekend.
Do you have any essie shades that you’ve purchased this year that you can recommend? I would love to hear other peoples experiences too.
I’m very impressed with the colour because of how bold it is. As you can see on my swatch on my arm it’s a deep shade of purple, not as dark as it appears in bulk in the pot, but still a wonderfully bright shade. Although only a very small pot at 4.5g, I feel as though this makeup will go a long long way. I barely used any of the powder for the swatch and I know that with the correct brushes it can be blended well.
Thank you to VLA Cosmetics who got the prize to me very quickly and well packaged as well. I am very happy with the product, and having not tried any MAC makeup before, I am impressed with the pigment.
Spectrum Brushes are some of the most beautiful makeup brushes I have ever seen, no scratch that, they are definitely the prettiest I have seen! But what makes them so good? Well I decided I wanted to try them for myself and review them. So here I am in action, using these brushes and photographing them as I go, to give you an overall review of these unique looking products.
Being lightweight and soft the brushes are each designed for a specific makeup application. The shapes are specific to applying all kinds of makeup including Powder, Cream and Liquid. There are Eye Shadow, Foundation and Contour defining shapes as well as the general brushes for everyday use.
I kept hearing great things about the quality of these brushes from all over social media. And when I held them in my own hands and used them to apply makeup to my skin I could understand what all the fuss was about. Soft and shape specific, they made the application of my makeup products easy and precise.
I’m very pleased that I can add these stunning brushes to my collection, and I hope they last me for many years to come.
If you have enjoyed this review then please feel free to leave me a comment, and look out for more beauty reviews and pictures including these brushes in use, coming soon…
Day 3. Today I began to notice a few very tiny chips at the edge of my thumb and first finger. Not that noticeable though unless you were up close. This was bound to happen to me because of all the things that my hands go through every day. But it’s not bad enough to ruin the manicure. My nails are still a wonderful shade and are shiny, I have been both cooking and cleaning and typing the past 48 hours, so I am surprised they are in such good condition. So far so good!
Day 5. Other than a few minor chips my nails look great. The look and feel of he polish is still smooth and shiny which is what I would expect to see from a successful manicure. So far the quality of both the polish and the gel top coat is excellent.
Day 7. It’s been a week since the application and overall my nails look fabulous! The shine, colour and smoothness is still apparent and other than my thumb and first finger loosing some polish at the tips the manicure is still in a very good condition. When looking at them not close up you wouldn’t notice the chips.
Day 9. Today I inspected my nails and as you can imagine they are beginning to grow out now at the backs. Their pink lines stand out against the dark red colour painted upon them. Saying that though the look of my nail varnish is still very good. My first finger, thumb and middle finger are now beginning to look worse for wear, but from a distance you can’t tell very much.
Day 11. Not much difference in two days despite my daily duties. All of the nails are beginning to grow out now and most are chipped at the edges. Saying that I have never known a nail polish to last this long without me needing to remove and re-apply at least one of the finger nails.
Day 12. More growing out and a tiny bit more chipping, but otherwise my nails look great for having been applied 12 days ago! I’m starting to really like the quality of this product. It goes to show that when you apply things correctly it can really work in your favour, no wasting time reapplying polish every day or so.
Day 14. Time to remove the nail varnish, but I’m impressed with how well it’s lasted. My daily routine involves cooking and cleaning and I would’ve expected more chips than I have. As you can see in my photograph my nails have lasted reasonably well overall and I think if I were applying this nail polish long term it would be very useful investment knowing that when applied correctly it will last a minimum of a week, almost 14 days if looked after.
I was lucky enough to receive this incredible palette from Makeup Revolution London in my mystery bag in March. If you saw my mystery bag reveal here on my blog then you’ll remember it. I wanted to swatch this one and really test out the vibrancy of the colours. At first glance you can see how pigmented the shades are, especially some of the shimmer colours with glitter for extra sparkle.
Here are the 12 shimmer shades of eye shadow. I particularly like the darker shades, because that is how I would usually do my makeup style. As you can see from my swatches there are differences between the shades even those of similar colour like the blues. Luckily I think there are palettes that suit everyone, and there are palettes that people may use only a few of the colours included. I wouldn’t reach for the majority of these shades on a daily basis, but they are great for themed makeup and fancy dress nights out, or just matching with a bold outfit. The great thing about a set like this one is that those shadows are there when you need them, and you can use your regular palettes for the regular days of the week. Unless you love bright and bold as an everyday look in which case this palette is certainly for you!
I know a lot of bloggers do swatches of the colours in the palettes, but these aren’t brand new items so there will be plenty of people out there who have already reviewed them. I just wanted to give my honest opinion of them to you.
Swatch 1 – Iconic Smokey – ‘Silvery’
Here are my recent brush replacement purchases. I chose mostly eye specific brushes because I generally wear makeup on my eyes if nowhere else. The final and largest brush in this image is the new foundation one I ordered. Mine was old and looking worse for wear so I decided to replace it.