The Eyebrow Problem

The current obsession with eyebrows is something I find slightly weird. As a young teenager I can remember my older sisters teaching me how to pluck, and telling me that I should strive for even eyebrows that perfectly match my hair colour, and if it doubt over size, always go for smaller.  Hence, it's taken me a long time to fully embrace the stand out eyebrows trend. I think the slight obsession I've developed with Cara Delevingne has definitely spurred me on! 

I've started to fill in my eyebrows using the darkest colour in the Rimmel Orien palette. I'm naturally very light, although my hair has darkened due to dyes and what not. This means that my eye brows can look a little light for my face and for want of a better word, they can tend to almost look greasy. I don't over-do it when I fill them in, I'm still blonde and I don't quite fancy a Scouse Brow, but it definitely gives them a bit more definition. Here's my eyebrows before and after:

 Do you fill in your eyebrows? How dark do you go?

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Review

I was originally going to be writing about how I have too many black pencil eyeliners and they don't do A DAMN THING DIFFERENT and then guess what? I went to get them out of my make-up bag and I've misplaced them all. What is the irony of that, hey life? 

So I only had three black pencil eyeliners left. And one of them was my Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil. I hadn't used it for a while so I swatched it and suddenly remembered it's pretty damn good. Then I remembered that I got it as a gift in a set last year with three others! (Technically four, a green, but my sister took that one.)

(I know, I need to hoover! I'm a student with a deep-rooted fear of my feet being sucked up by the hoover - not my fault.)

 So this week I've been trying all four of them out again, seeing how they work on my annoyingly oily eyes. They. are. amazing. They glide on in a perfect line without much effort on your own part, sitting stubbornly on your waterline or lower lashline and blending beautifully on your top lid. They're incredibly waterproof from my tests, and need a good amount of eye make-up remover to get rid of every last trace.

Admittedly, I've not got much use for the pink and purple ones (Woodstock and Ransom, respectively) but if put onto the top lid they blend really well into a dramatic eye for a night out. 
The blue (Radium) has a lovely turquoise hue that shimmer beautifully in the light. 
And the black (Perversion) has fast become a daily-face staple. I love simple black eyeliner on your waterline for a day-to-day look but I am used to putting it on in the morning and having to do it again in just over an hour. The staying power on this one is wonderful. I can't praise it enough.

The set I bought is available to purchase here for £19.99, or they are available individually from most Urban Decay stockists at £13.00-£14.00.

YSL Forever Youth Liberator Eye Cream - Review

I was very apprehensive to try eye cream. Firstly, my skin is known to react to anything even slightly different than its normal routine and the notion of a reaction that close to my eyes was a bit scary and secondly I really did not want to accept getting old. But I'm twenty and I have the beginning of crows feet and my dissertation seems to have given me permanent puffy eyes. My eyes were in desperate need of help.

I also seriously needed to get over my misconceptions about eye creams (I also had a similar misconception about night treatments...). Your eyes are one of the most important parts of your face - revealing thoughts and emotions. If your eyes look tired and weary, that's what people are going to think of you.
The old and extremely wrinkled are not the only people to get the most out of eye creams. They're not just useful for their anti-ageing properties (although that is a lovely perk) but also have a number of uses such as treating dark circles, puffiness and bags. While concealer can go some of the way in masking these imperfections, the right eye cream can reduce them to a non-issue.

As one of my lovely Christmas presents from one of my big sisters, I got a YSL gift set. The set included a full size mascara, a tester of Top Secrets eye make-up remover and a tester bottle of Forever Youth Liberator Eye Cream. The tester bottle was teeny tiny, but a little really does go a long way with this product.

(I know - crazy chipped nails! I only painted them yesterday, pah.)

The directions say to use this morning and evening, although I have mostly been applying it in the mornings. I have a terrible problem of not being bothered once it gets past 8 o'clock in the evening and I just forget to put it on. But even though I have only been using it approximately to 50% of it's maximum potential the results have been wonderful!

It glides on and smooths into my skin, drying quickly. The skin feels plump and smooth, and my eyes more awake instantly. It's allowed my tired, stressed third-year eyes to return to get some oompf back.  

Now I just have to sell out £43.00 for a full-size one.

See the cream for yourself here. 

What eye cream do you swear by?

Oily eye guide to eye make up.

Probably the most frustrating thing about my skin (when it comes to make up) is the fact I have super oily eyes. I have to spend a considerable amount of time on my eye make up just to make it look presentable, and within an hour or so it will usually have started to disappear and smudge around my eyes.

However, I think I may have finally found a routine that works for me.

never forget to use your primer. I use the much raved about Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. I have in fact got this pack with the duo primer's but I wasn't very impressed with the one with the shimmer, which I felt was too much for me, but that was personal preference. It looked really pretty on my sister.

A habit for any eyeshadow primers is also to only put it on your lids, but if you have a teeny amount left on your finger you should try to smooth it along your lower lash line. I often use my little finger or a cotton bud. 

I then always use a base colour, even under what I want to be the "base colour" for the particular look i'm wearing. I feel that, for me, my eyeshadow just won't stay on if it doesn't have something to cling to, the primer isn't always enough. My go to for this is always Bourjois Paris ombre a paupieres eyeshadow in 08 Beige Rose. I think this may have been discontinued now but there are some very similar colours out there. It is only slightly darker than my skin tone so creates a fantastic base and I use it every single time unless I'm planning on only other using very dark colours..

From there, I usually blend other colours in.

If you're using eyeliner, always use it on both your waterline and a little on your lower lash line. It can be an easy habit to just putting it on your waterline as it doesn't overpower your eyes but it won't stay, especially with oily eyes. Hopefully with that little bit of primer you put under your lower lash line the look will stay and your eyes will look lovely all night long, not running down your face.

Finally, don't be afraid to use a couple of mascaras. I'm currently using my Yves Rocker Sexy Pulp mascara sample that I got in an old glossybox (until bursary day when I can afford to buy something else) on my top lashes. It has a fairly thick brush and formula that looks really good on my top lashes. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with many bottom lashes and it would completely drown those lashes and go everywhere. For my lower lashes I use Avon's super magnify mascara because it has a teeny slim brush that means I can coat my lashes lightly without them looking like spider legs. I was very confused when talking to a friend who said that using two different mascara's was taboo - really?

What are your holy grail eye products?

Just a note to say: I'm aware I haven't updated in a while. I managed to get quite badly injured, got sick and stressed with uni work because of these things. Back on form now though :)