REVIEWSDAY: Urban Decay Mascara Resurrection

Urban Decay’s 2015 releases are looking pretty exciting all round. As you might have realised from my serious inability to shut up about their eyeshadows, I’m a huge fan of the brand, and scurried off to investigate the new launch as soon as I heard about it. It comprises a powder foundation, a concealer, a new collection of Moondust eyeshadows (YES), some beautiful lipsticks and something called Mascara Resurrection.

Slightly creepy name aside, this is the first product of its kind I’ve ever seen, and it’s also the cheapest product in the new range at £10, so I snapped it right up.

REVIEWSDAY: Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer

One day I will come up with a totally original product photo concept but today is not the day. Really you're lucky that I never got round to buying cherries for my MAC Cherry lipliner review.

I really do think the candles are quite fitting for this though just because in a strange kind of way I feel about this primer in a similar way I do about candles. Essentially it is really, really lovely, but as a luxury rather than a definite necessity.

REVIEWSDAY Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Fluid-Touch Foundation

Everyone loves a new kind of product, right? Fluid foundations have been pottering around for a little while now, and I was super excited to finally try one out. The idea behind them is a much finer liquid than a normal foundation that still offers the same amount of coverage. A few high-end brands have had these for quite a long time, but in the last few months they’ve finally reached the high street (i.e. within my product-testing budget).  

Maybelline’s Dream Flawless Nude is £8.99 from Boots and available in the UK in seven shades (I think it’s twelve in the US). I’ve got the palest shade, Ivory.

REVIEWSDAY: M.A.C. Lipliner in Cherry

As you may have heard, because I have mentioned it on the blog whenever possible, my beautiful and amazing co-author Noll bought me M.A.C. Russian Red matte lipstick for Christmas. This is my first ever M.A.C. lipstick and I love it (ooh I wonder what my favourites post on Saturday will be...?) and everyone ever who has recommended it on the internet is SO right. I have been seriously enjoying using it for the past month or so, but have also noticed that even though it is amazing by itself (it really doesn't budge), lots of people pair it with M.A.C. Lipliner in Cherry. Given that my lipstick application skill is mediocre at best, and intrigued to see what exactly lipliner has done for people after the 90s, I thought perhaps now was the right time to try one and see what all the fuss is about. I think I get it now.

REVIEWSDAY: Revlon Brow Fantasy

Brow products are a tricky thing, because there are a lot of different things to get right at once. I’m fickle with my brow products: at the moment I’m using Soap & Glory’s Archery, which lovely but a little too warm and red-toned in colour for me, and Benefit Speed Brow, which I really like and definitely recommend as a brow gel.

I’m still, though, worlds away from finding an all-in-one product that really floats my boat, and so for this Reviewsday (is it your favourite day of the week yet? Why on earth not?), I snapped up Revlon’s Brow Fantasy.

REVIEWSDAY: Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

As you may have read on Friday's post (if not, why not?!), back in December we were lucky enough to be invited to an event with Elle UK and Benefit to hear about Benefit's brand new product, which was launched on Friday, Roller Lash Mascara. Although it is not in stores yet, they also very kindly sent us each a (full-size!) sample to test out before it is on general sale, so obviously we just had to review it for you guys! And since this is such an exciting review, we are going to do it as a joint post so you can see it on both of us and what we each think of it.

REVIEWSDAY: Yes to Grapefruit Dark Circle Correcting Eye Cream

I have mentioned in a couple of previous posts about concealers that I am waging a long-running war against my under-eye circles, and that I will move heaven and earth to find a concealer that will sort them out. This time, though, I decided to try and treat the source of the problem ad hoc and start looking at correcting eye creams.

I’ve been using eye creams for a while, but not been too fussy about which – the ones I’ve used most have been Benefit It’s Potent and Balance Me Wonder, both of which I have in sample sizes from beauty boxes – so this might actually be the first eye cream I’ve ever gone out and bought, and it’s the Yes to Grapefruits Dark Circle Correcting Eye Cream.

It’s in the name, right?

REVIEWSDAY: Indeed Labs Hydraluron Moisture Jelly

This is a very exciting review for me because I have wanted this moisturiser for SO LONG. But because of my excitement, I am also writing this review the day after buying it because I just couldn't wait any longer, so maybe think of this as more of a first impressions review than our normal incredibly well-researched and thorough reviews. Ahem.

REVIEWSDAY: Divaderme Lash Extender

Brace yourselves: I’m quite into makeup.

I know; shocker, right? My family knows this, obviously, and come this Christmas time I was gently spoilt with all sorts of exciting beauty bits and bobs (haul post coming soon!), and one of them was this: the Divaderme Lash Extender.

Divaderme call it lashes in a bottle, and it’s made up of teensy tiny fibres that you brush onto fresh mascara and then seal in with another layer. It looked super exciting, and also sort of terrifying, and I absolutely couldn’t wait to run away from my family gathering and try it out.

REVIEWSDAY: L'Oreal Paris Blake's Pure Red Color Riche Lipstick

I think I might have found the best red lipstick ever. Just saying. I have been dying to try the L'Oreal Paris Collection Exclusive Color Riche Pure Reds (what a mouthful) range for so so long, and I finally got round to swatching them in Superdrug and buying one, and I can't believe I waited so long. I bought Blake's Red, and it is perfect.

I still haven't sorted my office Christmas party outfit (see the dilemma at the end of this post) but at least I now know what makeup I will be wearing, because this lipstick is made for Hollywood glamour. Which is pretty appropriate for something created for/by Blake Lively.

REVIEWSDAY: L'Oréal Superliner Brow Artist

On Sunday night, I went to a wedding reception. It was lovely, and beautiful, and I totally did not tear up at the first dance; shut your face. There may have been a tad too much gin.

The sad consequence of this lovely evening was that on Monday I woke up 20 minutes late and had to fling what I needed into my handbag and do most of my makeup on the train. All would have been well (I am pretty practised at hungover train makeup, because I am a mess), except I forgot to bring any eyebrow products and, being that my eyebrows are a bit of a law unto themselves at the moment, I had to make an emergency trip to Boots. Yes. Emergency.

Enter: L'Oréal Superliner Brow Artist.

REVIEWSDAY: Sniffy Wiffy Hand Cream

Today, appropriately with it (finally) being December, is in a way our first Christmas post, because although it is a usual Tuesday review, this is definitely something I think would make a great Christmas gift. Having said that, although this is a review of the hand creams that we got to try, this is also a (slightly gushing) post about the brand and their products in general.

We had the lovely opportunity of meeting the couple behind Sniffy Wiffy at a Bloggers Love Hub event, and received hand cream samples to try, so I'll talk about these first but then quickly discuss the brand as a whole a bit too.

REVIEWSDAY: Umberto Giannini Indulgent Beauty Moisture Mask

Here’s a not-so-secret secret: I bloody love a hair mask.

Last week, Pops and I went along to the Bloggers Love Hub in London, which was mad and lovely, and while we were there we got to talk to some wonderful people from Umberto Giannini. After some gentle bullying about the fact that I don’t get my hair cut anywhere near as often as I should, I was actually told that my hair wasn’t as dry as it could be (yay!) and that I should try out their Indulgent Beauty Moisture Mask.

Well, it would be rude not to.

REVIEWSDAY: Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara

I can't decide whether my horrific brow situation makes me more or less qualified to review brow products. On the one hand, why would you take my advice when my eyebrows look so scruffy/wonky/pathetic? On the other hand, any brow product I use really has a tough job on its hands, so any I recommend must be pretty damn amazing. Sadly this is not quite that, but at the same time it's not awful, and I hope it will help me a little bit on my way to Emma Watson eyebrows (the dream). Take that Cara.

REVIEWSDAY: Makeup Revolution Girls On Film Palette

Makeup Revolution are having a bit of a moment. I’ve used a few of their products and so far been pretty impressed, but in the run-up to Halloween I was seeing a lot of hype about the Give Them Nightmares palette and so wandered off to have a look. That one, while super gorgeous, is made up mainly of blues and purples, which aren’t colours I’d normally go for, so I fulfilled my ever-constant desire for nude eyeshadows and went for Girls On Film instead. It's named after a Duran Duran song!

It’s an 18-shade palette for the frankly startling price of £6, with 12 shimmer shades and 6 matte. It’s part of their five-palette Salvation range (which includes Give Them Nightmares), which all claim to be highly pigmented. For me, this was true for some shades more than others.

REVIEWSDAY: Benefit (mini) They're Real! Push-up Liner

I am so excited to finally have this! I have wanted to try it for ages but I am so super picky with eyeliner I thought I would wait for it to come free with ELLE UK before committing to paying £18.50 for it, and to be honest I am glad I waited...

REVIEWSDAY: L'Oréal Paris True Match Touche Magique Concealer

There comes a moment in your life where you just have to step back, look at the world around you and say "I want nothing more than to find the perfect under-eye concealer, and then I will be happy forever."

I'm reasonably confident that's not just me. I love L'Oréal foundations, and their True Match range has been good to me in the past, so I thought I'd give the Touche Magique concealer (£8.19 from Boots) a go too, in the hope that it would match up (see what I did there?). In the end, though, that wasn't quite to be.

REVIEWSDAY: John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Liquid Shine Illuminating Shampoo

First things first (Iggy Azalea has really ruined that phrase for me), the name of this product is an enormous mouthful. I felt like I had to draw breath after typing the title of this post.I love the John Frieda Brilliant Brunette range – it just feels like luxury to me, even though it’s technically speaking only a mid-range product, and so my hopes were pretty high when I tried this incarnation. 

REVIEWSDAY: Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil

Yay Reviewsday. This is my favourite feature we do, because it means I get to buy new things. I had a list forever long of products I already own to review today but I have wanted one of these lip crayons ever since I heard about them, so instead I bought a new thing.

REVIEWSDAY: Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer

I love primer as a concept, and it’s always part of my routine, but I’ve yet to find one that really wows me. There’s lots of heavy-duty primers out there that will make your foundation stick to your face like glue and are great for nights out, but on an everyday basis all I’m looking for is something lightweight that won’t entirely fuck up my pores and that will keep at least some of my makeup where I intended it.