Summer Days…….

The are many things I love about summer: barbeques, beer gardens, picnics, huge sunglasses to name just a few. My absolute favourite thing about summer though is not wearing foundation. I hate the feeling of foundation when the weather is warm and sticky, as I'm not a fan of feeling like my face is about to melt so I tend to skip it altogether. I thought I'd do a post on my top make-up products for the summer months to share:

Dove Everyday Sun facial moisturiser - a light, easily absorbed moisturiser which is great for topping up your tan (or giving a bit of colour)

Max Factor Lash Extension Effect Mascara - gives lovely natural fluttery lashes - perfect for summer days/evenings in the park or beer  garden

Benefit Moonbeam - I much prefer Moon Beam to High Beam as a highlighter when I have a tan, it gives a perfect golden shimmer just where you need it

Bourjois Lune d'or blush - this is my absolute favourite summer blush, its a pretty peachy hue with a subtle gold shimmer, which again looks fabulous with a tan

Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder – This is the most natural looking bronzer I’ve ever found, I generally find that bronzers either make me look dirty or orange but this one is perfect.

Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Stash - a gorgeous olive green which is perfect when you don’t want to look too ‘done’

MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner - in any colour! I like to make sure that my lips are protected by a balm/gloss which contains SPF. MAC TLC’s are perfect as they give a sheer wash of colour but also protect and condition your lips – I always have at least one in my bag at all times!

Collection 2000 Hot Looks nail polish in Fruit Salad – I can’t sing the praises of these polishes enough, they dry so quickly that they’re perfect a quick touch up between the office and the beer garden! This one is a gorgeous vibrant summery coral colour!

xxx

Review: Max Factor Lash Extension Effect Mascara

OK, I'll hold my hands up: My name is Briony and I am a mascara junkie. I just can't help myself, I must have about 12 mascaras on the go at any given time. Everytime I walk into Boots/Superdrug/Debenhams/Sainsburys I have an overwhelming urge to pick up a new mascara because I'm fickle like that. As you may be aware, my all time favourite is Lancome L'Extreme but I still have a strange compulsion to try any and every mascara available. Maybe I'm still searching for 'the one'! I suffer from a severe case of stumpy-lash-itis so I have a bit of a predeliction to grap anything that promises length, so when I was lucky enough to get a tube of Max Factor Lash Extension Effect mascara at the Aussie Event in January I was chuffed to say the least.

 

I held off trying this out for a month or so as I was in the process of whittling down the mascaras I already had on the go, but I've now been using the product for about 3 weeks and thought I'd do a quick review on it.

The brush is a rubber affair with tiny little bristles, which is fine for me - I don’t really have a preference either way when it comes to brushes, in my view if it works, it works, whether the brush is a traditional one or high tech one makes no odds at all to me! The only grumble I have is that the brush isn't purple as in the promotional pics - though that's fairly irrelevant given that the brush is usually coated in mascara!

 

The mascara itself gives me great natural looking length without clumps, but the down side is that it gives no volume at all. I haven't experienced any flaking but find it easy enough to shift at the end of the day. I don't mind the defined seperated look during the day, but I prefer my lashes with volume AND length of an evening (greedy? maybe.)

 

I'm not sure I'd repurchase this as I think there are other mascaras which are cheaper and do more or less the same job, but all in all it is a decent mascara for the price and it does what it sets out to fairly well.

 

xxx