Empties / December 2013 + Mascara Round-Up

Happy New Year lovelies!

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a wonderful start to 2014.

I didn't finish many products this month, however I decided to add an end of the year mini mascara reviews.

Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Eye Gel: I'm actually falling in love with Yes To… ranges; this eye cream is no exception. It feels fresh and hydrating and  I also think my concealer looks better when applied above this gel. I like to keep it in the fridge to enhance the cooling effect of the gel.

Repurchase: Yes 

REN F10 Smooth And Renew Mask: I like all the masks that I have tried from REN but I think they are all very similar; like the Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask (which is my favourite), this is a chemical exfoliant that eats at the superficial layer to reveal a smoother skin.

Repurchase: Maybe 

Lavera Hand Cream: at first I loved this cream but soon the scent started to annoy me; It's just too herbaly for my liking, I wish it would just smell like almond & shea butter - the main ingredients. It's a shame because I like the fresh consistency: it really feels like a splash of water and dries super fast.

Repurchase: No

First Aid Beauty Gentle Body Wash: this wee bottle had been sitting in my cabinet for far too long. Scent-free and nothing special in my opinion.

Repurchase: Nope

I'm definitely guilty of not changing my mascaras enough but I recently bought some new ones and I kept these for this post; as a rule of thumb, I don't like wet formulas and I prefer volume to length.

THUMB UP: 

One of my favourite mascaras of all time is Clinique High Impact Mascara; I usually prefer a plastic wand to the fiber but this one is super soft and flexible and create amazing volume effortlessly. 

L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara does exactly what it says on the tube - create tons of volume! As mentioned above, I like the short plastic teeth of the wand that are great to coat even the shortest lashes.

Benefit Bad Gal Blue Mascara: not a big fan of the huge brush and it dried out pretty fast but I always got loads of compliments for the colour.

t-b: Benefit, L'Oreal, Clinique

NEUTRAL: 

These mascaras didn't particularly impress me but I didn't hate them either. ;)

Ellis Faas mascara is impressive to hold the curl but the wand is too long, which makes it awkward to apply; I like the brush of the Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara which is flat on one side; I'm not a fan of scented mascara tho and this one has a strong floral smell.

t-b: Ellis Faas, Lancome

THUMB DOWN:

I know that many people like the Revlon GrowLuscious Mascara but it just didn't work for me: I think because the brush is too big and I couldn't really get in there at the root of the lashes; it also stung my eyes when removing it at the end of the day. Similar experience with the Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara that has an even bigger brush.

The downfall of the Collection 2000 Extreme Coloured Lenghtening Mascara is the quality; maybe mine was faulty but it was completely dry from the beginning… and I like dry mascaras so enough said. The colour simply didn't transfer and was flaky - shame because the brush looks good!

t-b: Revlon, Soap & Glory, Collection 2000

Anyway, I enjoyed having a wee break from the blog and just spend the holidays with the family… but now I'm looking forward to another year filled and shared with beauty with you! :)
xxx