Review: Maybelline The Mega Plush Volum' Express Mascara │ lipsticksandlevis

Hello! So today I have a little review for you to feast your eyes on.. The Mega Plush Volum' Mascara from Maybelline. I took a little trip into Superdrug at the weekend looking for a new mascara, because I really did need one and stumbled across this little tube of lashy goodness as soon as I walked in. It is the newest mascara from Maybelline and I had seen it advertised on TV a lot lately and it had me intrigued, boasting its NEW Flexor-brush and the new Gel-mousse formula. So when I walked into the shop and it was sat there looking at me all puppy dog eyed, I just had to buy one and try it out!

I instantly fell in love with the packaging because of the gorgeous bright teal and pink, it really catches your eye, and nice packaging is always a bonus, don't you think? So, this new gel-mousse formula.. I don't really find that it is very different to any other regular mascara formula that I have used in the past or present, however I do really like it. It is quite a 'wet' formula which I like because it doesn't leave your lashes thick and clumpy and it is very easy to apply more than one coat without it feeling tacky on the second coat. You really don't need much of the mascara at all to give a full look to your lashes. 

Now for this new flexor-brush which apparently caresses lashes with every stroke.. I really like it! Leaving the brush itself aside for a moment, I like that a little way up the wand there is a small rubber part which gives the brush the 'flex'. I like the fact of the flexible, bending wand as it moves with you as you apply the mascara, bending with your lashes as it glides over them. I feel like this helps to give your lashes a good coat of the mascara because the brush doesn't miss anything. Now for the brush itself, which I also love! My favourite type of brushes on mascara are the ones with the usual bristles, not the rubber ones. I just feel like the normal mascara brushes seem to be able to tame my lashes better. The bristles tend to grab onto my lashes a lot better too. This brush has a lot of bristles for this purpose, which is probably why I love it so much because it really does grab onto and coat every lash. There is no real arrangement of the bristles, but I think this random arrangement aids the brush in separating the lashes as well as it does because the bristles are allover the brush and are fairly close together so they don't miss a lash. 

The combination of the gel-mousse formula and the flexible wand give your lashes a very full and voluminous look, like it promises. Even though I do have naturally long and curled lashes, I find that this mascara just gives them even more length and curl, which is always good! 

As for the wear of the mascara, I wore this mascara from 6:00 am, when I was up and ready to go to work until I took it off for bed at around 9:00pm. So, I wore this mascara for around 15 hours and I must say it lasted amazingly! I didn't touch-up once throughout the whole day. When I took it off at night, my lashes still had as much length has they had when I first applied it, however I do think that my lashed 'dropped' ever so slightly, but overall I think that is amazing because it lasted so well for so long! Throughout the whole day I didn't find the mascara to smudge and I didn't find any fall down, which usually always happens with me and mascara. The mascara is really easy to take off, which may be because of its really 'liquidy' formula. 

Overall, I am so glad that I purchased this mascara to try it out because I think that I may have found a new favourite!! So you should definitely go a try this out! It is definitely worth the £7.99 that you would pay for it! You can find it HERE on the Superdrug website. Superdrug also has 3 for 2 on all cosmetics at the minute so go get it now so you can take advantage of that offer! I have, 4 or 5 times! 

Bye for now, Lauren xx

My Summer Beauty Essentials │ lipsticksandlevis

Hi !! So, as it has been starting to warm up a bit here in England over the last couple of weeks, I have decided to do some more summery blog posts, because summer makes me happy! So here I am going to write about a few products that I cannot live without during the hotter summer months! In summer I tend to get even drier skin, lips, hair, EVERYTHING! So my summer essentials are basically to help combat this 'dryness'.

First one is the Vitamin E Moisture Cream from The Body Shop. I love how much it hydrates my skin especially in Summer, and you really do not need much to give your skin the moisture it needs, which is a bonus because you don't need to repurchase as much! I like how it absorbs quickly and doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy. It doesn't really have a scent which is handy because you don't want to go around all day with your face smelling a bit funky! Another bonus is the fact that it is not tested on animals, which is what The Body Shop is famous for! In summer, this goes almost everywhere with me, I love it that much! You can find it - HERE - for £4.00 (15ml) or £10.00 (50ml). There are three variations of this cream available too : a nourishing night cream, intense moisture cream and illuminating moisture cream.

Next is a lip scrub from Lush. Walking into a Lush shop is just heavenly, it smells so good! If you have never been to a Lush store, you NEED to go, although it may hurt your bank account a little bit! It always does mine. This lip scrub is so good, its basically sugar. You just rub it on your lips and then you can lick off the excess and it tastes amazingly good! It leaves your lips feeling so soft. You can buy it - HERE - it costs £5.25 for a 25g pot, but it will honestly last you ages and ages! These are also other flavours : Mint Julips and Popcorn.

Next is the Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm with pomegranate oil. This is honestly my favourite lip balm that I have owned, I love it and it never leaves my side! It does exactly what it says on the tube, which is why I love it so much. Soothes, Nourishes and Hydrates. There honestly is nothing more I can say about this apart from 'It's amazing!'. You can buy it - HERE - it costs £3.69. It is available in 6 other 'flavours' : pink grapefruit, kokum butter, original, honey, mango butter and acai berry.

Next is the Climate Control Serum by Lee Stafford. I have had this for a while but have only recently started to use it and I can honestly say that after using it just once I noticed the difference it made to my hair! I have quite damaged hair and I am always trying so hard to 'repair' it. I used to bleach my hair blonde regularly for 3 - 4 years and if I'm honest I did used to be very lazy with taking hair of my hair. Because of dyeing my hair blonde for so long and not taking proper care of it, I am still trying to nurse it back to health now. When I used to dye my hair blonde, it used to be very dry and brittle and the ends used to snap off regularly and I am now still left with short, 'whispy' bits of hair that tend to stick out! This is what this serum helps with, the frizzy, 'whispy' bits of hair and it realy does help! Also, the smell is just amazing, one of my favourite scents. All Lee Stafford products smell amazing! I don't think this product is available anymore, I'm not sure but I can't find it anywhere.. But if it isn't available anymore, I will be very upset because I won't be able to repurchase. :( 

Finally is this Sea Salt Texturising Spray by Toni & Guy. I love this A LOT. I use it to give a bit of extra volume and texture at my roots and on the ends of my hair to give a beachy effect, which I love, especially in summer! I also love the smell of this spray, I really don't know what it smells of and most people will probably hate it, but I LOVE IT. You can get it - HERE - it costs £2.19 (75ml) or £7.19 (200ml). 

So, that is it for my Summer essentials! Keep tuned for more summer themed blog posts coming very soon! 

Lauren xx

May GlossyBox Opening 2013 │lipsticksandlevis

Hi, It's another GlossyBox Opening for you today! I have literally just got this by courier like half an hour ago and I just couldn't wait to write a post about it, because I thought it was a really good box! So this months is GlossyBox's 2nd birthday, but if you subscribe to GlossyBox and didn't already know that, then you will definitely find out by the packaging!! It's as pretty as always, but I love the print of the tissue paper in this box, with lipsticks, mirrors, mascara and of course birthday cake printed on it, in gorgeous pastel pinks and purples.

So, here are the products, because I know that's what you really want to see! 

The first product in the box that caught my eye and had me wanting to find out more was the Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes mascara.. because I saw on the box that this is the first ever mascara from Jelly Pong Pong! The little magazine that comes with GlossyBox rates this mascara very highly, saying that it is waterproof, long-lasting and feather light, non-clumping, but lengthening AND volumising! This definitely has me intrigued and I can't wait to try it out and see if it lives up to these high expectation I now have of it! This is the full sized product which costs £15. The mascara come in two shades, Maiden (a warm violet) and Flutter (an intense black) which is the shade I have. You can buy them HERE.

The next thing that I picked up was a nail varnish from Headline Colors in the shade 'Firewater' . This is a gorgeous plum colour and is perfect for winter months. This colour is from the Autumn / Winter 12/13 collection and you can get it HERE, they cost £9 each. I have already tried this little beauty out, adding it as a feature nail to my already polished nails. I love the consistency, not too thick and gunky, but not so thin that you need more than one coat,only one coat is needed for a strong, bold colour and coverage. They have a nice sized brush, to easily get down the sides of your nails.. and they are a nice size, not too big, so that you can use a good amount of it up before it starts to go 'manky'. I am definitely considering buying some more of these nail varnishes!

Another thing that I am really excited to use is the awapuhi wild ginger shine spray, which stems from Hawaiian natives. They apparently used Awapuhi leaves to nourish and moisture both skin and hair, leaving them soft, silky and hydrated. This spray claims to restore weak and damaged hair, which is definitely what I need after years of dyeing my hair and now that I have let my hair grow out and fade to its natural colour I am not going to stop caring for it and this is perfect! This is a full sized product costing £18.95 for 125ml and you can buy it HERE.

This is a Fast Stroke liquid eyeliner by 'Collection' in the colour 'Black 1'. I don't really know if I will use this product, as I am not very good at all with applying liquid eyeliner, but I think that I may start to practice now that I actually own a liquid eyeliner! I like how solid the brush is, so I can get a precise line and I like how black this is because it will make my lash line look really thick and defined. I am hoping my practising goes well so that I can make some use of this product! This is a full sized product and costs £2.99 and you can buy it HERE.

This sample is from former Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt's range of beauty must-haves. This sample is really small, which is quite dissapointing, at 2.5g compared to the 20g full sized product. This product is a new product, and claims to be a multi-tasking wonder. You can use it alone as a primer, mix with foundation for an airbrush effect, mix with powder blushers and bronzers for a cream tint or with eyeshadow pigments to create liquid eyeliner. I find this quite intriguing, that a simple clear aloe vera based gel can be used in so many ways so I am excited to use it, although I don't think that this sample will last me very long. Full sized product is £20 for 20g, sample size is 2.5g. You can buy this product HERE.

A little added extra to this months box is this GlossyBox own brand product.. It is a little booklet that folds open for you to fine little disposable nail files inside. In total there are 20 mini nail files that you can simply snap of at the base to use. I like this as it will be handy to keep in my bag when I'm out and about and if I break a nail and I'm left with sharp edges on my nails I can easily use one of my little nail files to touch up my nails! (Plus they are extremely pretty and CUTE) 

Overall I am very pleased with this box, and I can't wait to try the products! I also can't wait to see what GlossyBox comes up with next month because the boxes seem to be getting better and better, by each month. I'll let you all know how the products bear up against my now high expectations! 

Bye for now, Lauren xx

My Top 5 Spring Nail Polishes │ lipsticksandlevis

Hello! Spring is finally here! Well I hope it is, you never know with English weather! So because the weather finally seems to be brightening up, I have been pulling out my spring nail polishes and have been very excited to do so! I love painting my nails, and even more so in spring and summer because I just love all of the colours so much more! So here are my top 5 spring nail polishes, that I will most definitely be using in the months to come! You may be wondering why four of them are the same brand.. This is because my mum sells them and therefore, I have the chance to get lots of them for much cheaper and they are so good!!

No. 5 - Avon Speed Dry+ Nail Enamel in Turquoise Pop.
I love these nail varnishes so much! as you'll find out throughout the rest of this post.. With this one, as the colour is quite bold and bright, you only need one coat for your nails to look perfect which I really like as it means that my nails don't take as long to paint! This is such a gorgeous colour, it is a very bright, more greeny toned turquoise colour. It also lives up to its speed dry name, as it does dry very quickly, however, if more than one layer is put on the nails, it does take a little longer to dry! Can be bought from an Avon Representative or from the Avon Online Shop - HERE - this costs £6.00 but is often in some sort of offer.

No. 4 - Avon Speed Dry+ Nail Enamel in Mambo Melon
The name suits this nail varnish so well, because it really reminds me of watermelon.. It's a red with a slight tint of pink and has a silver shimmer effect which is so pretty! Because of this slight shimmer, I tend to do two coats because the shimmer makes it a bit more sheer. In spring, most people tend to think of pastel colours, but this is such a nice spring colour even though it isn't pastel. It is such a gorgeous colour and is a good swap from dark vampy reds in the winter months. Can be bought from an Avon Representative or from the Avon Online Shop - HERE - this costs £6.00 but is often in some sort of offer.

No. 3 - Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Pastel Pink

Here we come to the pastel colours, which admittedly are my favourite shades to wear in spring! This one in particular, I have had for a long time and I wear all throughout the year because I just love it so much! This nail varnish is quite thick and therefore, you only need one coat to give a good full coverage of nail varnish on your nail, which I love! This isn's a Speed Dry+ Nail Varnish, so does take a little while longer to dry but I think it is worth it because it is such a gorgeous colour! It is exactly what it says on the tin, a pastel pink! This nail varnish is not available from Avon anymore however, there is a new nail varnish by Avon that has been brought out recently that is a very similar colour - Speed Dry+ in On the Go Pink - HERE.

No. 2 - NYX Nails in NP 01 Carnation

Surprise, Surprise, it's another pastel colour! This time, a pastel yellow which is gorgeous for spring / summer. This nail varnish does need two coats to give a solid colour on your nail. This is the only nail varnish in this post that isn't from Avon, which just shows how good the Avon nail varnishes are as the majority of my collection are from Avon! This NYX Nail Varnish, is just as good as the Avon ones however, and I always get excited for summer to crack this one out of my collection to use! I 'borrowed' this nail varnish from my mum almost two years ago, oops! So, it isn't available from NYX anymore.. however, I have been a good girlie and done a little research to find a colour similar! From the NYX Nail Polish Salon Formula Collection I have found the colour NPS226 Pastel Yellow which is almost identical to this one and costs just £4.50, you can find it HERE.

Now it's time for my No. 1 ! - Avon Speed Dry+ Nail Enamel in Swift Sherbert.

This is quite possibly my favourite Nail Polish that I have ever bought! I only got it recently, just a few weeks ago, and I have worn it for the majority of those few weeks. I love it! It is a pastel coral / orange colour, it's gorgeous! Again with this one I do two coats to get a stronger colour, but it drys very fast so that makes up for the two coats! I just can't get over how much I love this colour, I wish it was never ending! You can buy this from an Avon Representative or from the Avon Online Shop - HERE - it costs £6.00 but is often on some sort of offer. 

So, that's it for my Top 5 Spring Nail Polishes, Bye for now! 

Lauren xx