Maybelline eyeliners: Just No.

It was a sad day when my favourite felt tip eyeliner finally dried up and I couldn't ignore it any longer - it was time to look for a new one. Given my beloved eyeliner was a random brand from a Memebox (O& Easy Brush Liner) I wasn't going to be able to just pick that up on my next trip to the high street. It's not even available online, which is saying a lot.

So it was high time for me to find an alternative that doesn't  involve scouring Memeswap boards and paying international postage rates. To that end, I did a bit of a Google to find out fellow bloggers recommendations before heading down to Boots.

I ended up coming home with the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner Pen and the Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner, both in black. 

Maybelline Lasting Drama Black Shock Gel Liner ¦¦ This is the much-hyped 'dupe' for the Benefit They're Real! Push Up Liner, and I had to hunt around a fair bit to find a Boots that had this in stock. I haven't tried the Benefit product, but I've read a lot of mixed reviews about it. So I approached this with a healthy amount of caution and an open mind. I gave it a go on a few separate occasions, and here's my opinion on the matter: I think this is a fairly decent product if you are the kind of person who has endless patience for eyeliner, and can afford to spend a good 15 minutes perfecting your cat flick. But that's just not me. One of the reasons I loved my O& eyeliner so much is that it was so quick and easy. The Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner is actually more effort than whipping out an actual gel liner and brush (my favourite here), and for that reason I just can't see me getting a lot of wear out of this.

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner ¦¦ Whereas the product above was a fail due to personal preference, this is a fail because I just think it's bad. I'm surprised, because I've seen so many good reviews of this - and it leads me to think I may have a faulty product on my hands. The tip is too dry, it skips across my eyes, and is really difficult to apply never mind get a smooth line. It also does that thing where, when you try and apply it over the top of a line you just drew, it ends up wiping off the existing product rather than putting more on top of it. Does that make sense? Anyway it's basically a disastrous experience from beginning to end. I've tried adding some moisture to the felt tip, shaking it, applying over a primer, no primer, no eyeshadow, all kinds of things. The same thing happens. As you can see from the swatch above, the line is inconsistent at best and absent at worst. Sadly drugstores in the UK don't accept product returns so I'll be putting this straight in the bin. Despite the good reviews elsewhere, I'll be trying other products from other brands before I dare try this one again.

What's your opinion of Maybelline eyeliners? Do you have an alternative you can recommend to me?

-Rachel

Raiding the sample stash: hot weather choices

I have a slightly out of control sample stash, due largely to my Memebox and Latest in Beauty addictions. Recently, the time came to raid it for all items possibly suitable for hot and sunny weather when I travelled to Australia over Christmas. I'll let you know what I packed, and whether or not I used it...

Here’s my stash:

(I promise, it used to be organised. And then subscription boxes happened.)

Here’s what I've salvaged:

Cooling things

Unni Recipe Vitamin Recharger Mist ¦¦ I called in all misting, spraying or cooling reinforcements from my stash. This one smells delicately of citrus and, whilst perfectly enjoyable, I ended up taking far too many cooling spray type things, so this didn't get used much at all... sadface.

Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray ¦¦ This wasn't as cooling as some of the rest, but has added moisturising properties so I used it a lot on the plane journeys. It was a brilliant refresher for when my face felt all parched and horrible.

Too Cool For School Gel Mist ¦¦ I haven't even opened this yet - I keept the plastic seal on to prevent suitcase leakage. This spray has added trehalose and baobab extract but... I didn't get around to using this either.

Kskin Emu Leg R-Free Massage Cream ¦¦ This is a cooling leg and foot gel with peppermint and menthol. This gave serious cooling tingles, and I enjoyed putting this on hot limbs at the end of the day.

La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water ¦¦ This is just water in an aerosol can, nothing more than that. It's pretty expensive for what it is, too. However, this and the Avene (same product, different water) deliver cooling like none of the rest do. It's something about the aerosol, I think. I did use this, but not as much as I thought I would.

Avene Eau Thermale ¦¦ As I say, this is exactly the same as the La Roche-Posay product (they're even called the same thing) but I had a sample of each so they both got packed. Also, they're perfectly handbag sized. As above, I only used this a few times - but those times, it was an absolute lifesaver.

Suncare things

CNP Cosmetics CNP Tone-Up Protection Sun ¦¦ This contains deep sea water to prevent skin dehydration and promises to help keep skin silky soft. I just care that it's got a decent SPF of 42. I used this a few times, and thought it was brilliant because it does give some light coverage and evens skin tone, but you can't feel it on the skin. I did however suspect this broke me out, so after a couple of days I switched to using...

ElRoel Tone Up Sungel ¦¦ This is a green tinted product which was pretty similar to the other tone-up suncream. This wasn't actually a gel, but had the texture of a primer. It blended in really easily and the green vanished quickly. It wasn't sticky, I couldn't feel it on my skin, and it stopped me from burning. I flipping loved this stuff and wore it to death.

Nuganic Customize Sunblock ¦¦ This factor 50+ wasn't too sticky and was fairly portable, too, ready for top-ups on the go. I enjoyed using this and nearly finished the bottle.

Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation ¦¦ This contains a relatively decent SPF of 30, so I brought this as I've enjoyed using this in the UK. However I hardly ever ended up wearing a base at all, it was just too hot. So this one stayed unused.

Tonymoly Luminous Goddess Aura BB Cream ¦¦ This has an SPF of 37 and is also pretty water resistant. On the one or two occasions I wore anything on my skin other than suncream, I chose this. It lasted extremely well throughout the heat, and looked natural too. I was so impressed that I bought myself a full size of this at the duty free in Seoul airport.

Hawaiian Tropic Satin Protection Ultra Radiance SPF30 ¦¦ This product was basically the best thing I took out with me. The SPF30 was high enough to stop me from burning (mostly...) and this contains a really subtle gold shimmer which makes your limbs look healthy and radiant, and not like a pasty English person. I love this, and finished it during the trip, so I'm buying lots more so I can take it away with me whenever I go anywhere sunny. 

St Tropez Instant Glow Body Lotion ¦¦ This is one of those insta-tan things. Yeah, I used this 0 times.

Face things 

SN Plant Stem Cell Cleansing Foam, Toner and Moisturiser ¦¦ I used these handy sachets on the plane, to do my mini facial. They were quite good, but they're designed for people with oily skin so they were a little harsh for my normal-dry skin.

Embryolisse Hydra-Masque ¦¦ I used this on the plane as well, to give my face a good drink. See me wearing it here...

Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel ¦¦ Samples are always good. I used this up in the first couple of days before moving on to my beloved No7 Hot Cloth Cleanser, which I finished up whilst I was out there.

Soy Bio+ Fermented Lumpoule ¦¦ This is a serum for use after cleansing and before moisturising. I thought this was a great size for using whilst I was away, and I did use it a few times but I didn't think it was particularly marvellous. Also the bottle was glass so it was a pretty risky choice.

ESPA Super Active Lift & Firm Moisturiser and Intensive Eye Serum ¦¦ Another sample sized duo which I used up during my trip. I didn't think much of this either actually, and after finishing these up went back to the moisturiser and eye cream I'd been using before with relief.


So those were all the many, many things I took with me. I definitely overpacked. Lesson learned for next time - at least I can look back on this post and rethink some of my packing choices! For example, I'd definitely take fewer cooling sprays: I didn't use them that much as they just always got forgotten. I think I'd also not bother with taking a base, and only take one tried and tested cleanser, moisturiser and eye cream. The rest was all a little bit unnecessary!

What are your can't-do-without products for hot weather?

-Rachel

In-flight Spa

Wouldn't it be amazing if there were a spa on board long haul flights, which you could go to for a mid-air pamper session? I don't know, maybe there is such a thing if you fly super-extra-first class (or private jet...) but for us mere mortals in economy, it's but a distant dream.

So I decided to see what I could do to achieve an in-flight spa.

High Altitude Hair treatment ¦¦ I used a Kocostar Split End Therapy hair pack and a cute hair tie, which came with a previous Memebox (link so you can see what I'm on about). I applied this sat where I was, with only a few strange looks from fellow passengers. This one you don't need to wash out, so once the allotted time was over I just took off the pack and plaited my hair out of the way, ready to look shiny and happy at landing time.

Flight Deck Facial ¦¦ I tried to fit in as many steps to this as I could. Let's face it, on the first of two 10 hour flights I wasn't pushed for time. First, I fully cleansed my face in the bathrooms before applying a toner. I massaged in some balancing face oil and went to sit back down again to let it sink in.

Half a film later, I headed back to the bathrooms to apply a mask. I could have gone for a Korean face sheet, but I didn't want to scare the small children around me. Instead, I opted for the Hydra-Masque from Embryolisse. It's a very thick moisturising cream that you layer on your skin, and leave it to sit. You can rinse it off when you get bored of it - but the beauty is, it's basically invisible on your skin. I watched a film while this worked its magic, and then I gave myself a little face massage to tie things up.

Hydrate ¦¦ Just a bottle of water. Nothing fancy here, but absolutely essential as the plane left me absolutely parched.

Mile-High Manicure ¦¦ Now, opening bottles of noxious nail polish at 36,000 feet is nothing short of antisocial. Therefore, my manicure contains no smelly liquids or bowls of water for soaking fingers which could accidentally be tipped into fellow passengers' laps.

To soften my cuticles I used some nail treatment glove things, again from Kocostar, which were surprisingly good. You can't do too much with them on but... you're on a plane. How much is there to do?!

Then I moved to to applying some nail wraps, after a brief file (nothing obnoxious, I promise). I chose this houndstooth set from Wilko, then finished off with an application of hand cream - that's the Verbena and Lavender hand cream from Crabtree and Evelyn hiding in the background.

Layover Lip Scrub ¦¦ My lips always suffer when I fly, so as well as layering on the lip balm every 5 minutes, I do a little lip scrub about halfway through the flight. The ones from Lush are extremely good, but if you don't have the chance to pick one up you can use the toothbrush from your amenity kit with some more lip balm.

Aeroplane Aromatherapy ¦¦ Nothing too full on here, folks, as the point above about smells on planes still stands. I had a tiny vial of some lavender scented oil which I applied to my pulse points. I also have a lavender filled eye mask which I pulled down over my eyes. At this point I had a little doze (not a sleep, mind you. I can't do that on planes) and zen'd out for a while.

Spa Syle Lunch ¦¦ The less said about this, the better. Yes, that's boiled white fish and no, I don't want to talk about it.

Plane Pilates ¦¦ Some stretches are a must when flying, to keep the blood flowing and prevent DVT (and cankles). I used the space right at the back of the plane to do some stretches. Only mild confusion and hilarity ensued (and hey, it all helps to pass the time, right?!)

Have you ever attempted any in-flight spa treatments? Are you tempted?!

-Rachel