REVIEW: Balms Away Eye Makeup Break-Up

Hi girls :)

I thought I'd do a lil review for you guys on an eye makeup removal product I picked up a couple of weeks ago.

Lately I've noticed that when I remove my eye makeup I seem to loose an eyelash or two :( I don't want my eyes going bald!!

So when I saw this baby I thought it might be a tad gentler on the eye area and was worth a shot...

The Balm 'Balms Away' Eye Makeup Break-up

I hadn't really used any Balm products before, but the first thing that attracted me to the counter was their super cute packaging. It's quite similiar to benefit in that it has a retro kinda feel, with pics of pin-up girls and the like.

This was €22, but I got it for €11 on clearance. This was originally pretty pricey in my opinion so I was expecting good things :)

The dealio is you apply a dollop onto your closed eye (keeping eye closed) and move it around in a circular motion for about 30secs before wiping your eye with a soft tissue.

The break-up balm itself is clear in colour and doesn't really have any scent to it, which isn't really suprising seeing as it's made for the delicate eye area. In terms of consistency it's not a million miles away from petroleum jelly, but it's softer, smoother and less sticky.

It feels quite nice when you're applying it, and if any little bit of it did manage to sneak its way into my eye I didn't feel any stinging or anything!

I used a Simple makeup wipe to wipe across my eye as I thought it might be better to use something moist, I thought soft tissue might still be a little rough on the eye area.

I was quite impressed with how easily my dark eyeshadow was removed after using this! It really did seem to break the product up and was far more pleasant than rubbing my eye for ages, as well as being better for the skin. As you can probably see in the pic above, this contains vitamins A, E and C and other healthy sounding stuff! :)

My only disappointment was that I still lost a couple of eyelashes :(

I wouldn't blame the product for this though, my lashes are obv v weak all of a sudden!

Has anyone experienced lash loss before?! Or do any of you know of anything that might help?? I'm going to start putting some Elizabeth Arden 8hr cream on them at night I think. This is rumoured to lengthen lashes so I figure its worth a shot.

Anwho, back to the review!

A little bit goes a long way with this, so I reckon it will last me a while. It's going to be great for nights out when I wear dark eye makeup and jut wanna hit the hay when I get home. I find that it really speeds up the removal process! Oh and also I didn't feel like my eye was coated in nasty residue after use, once you wipe it off, it's gone.

Anybody else tried The Balm products?

What do you use to remove your makeup?

Can anyone save my lashes?!?!

Haha til next time, same bat time, same bat channel!

* Thanks for reading *

x x x

Ash

x x x

UPDATE: Sorry girls I totally forgot to mention that the casing is tin, although you may have noticed that from the pic! Anyways this makes it really handy to bring on-the-go without having to worry about destroying a handbag. I'm gonna start bringing it with me to the bf's house as he fears panda eyes. :)

I'm Alive!!!! And a ginormous RAVE!

Remember me?!

Super sorry for my absence, stupid interweb has been playing up like you wouldn't believe. :-/

But I am back now and will waste no more time with excuses as I have a new love to tell you all about and that's far more interesting!

You may remember a little haul I did a few weeks back, one of the items being Benefits Box-o-Powder in Coralista...

Well.. What can I say...??

Long story short....I bloody love this stuff!!!!!

As for the long story...

I've always admired Benefit for the effort they put into the presentation of their cosmetics. I defy you to find a brand with all-round cuter packaging! Its not the most important thing when it comes to buying makeup, but I gotta admit I have been swayed by gorgey packaging on more than one occasion!

One thing that I do NOT admire Benefit for is their prices... High end makeup ain't cheap but Benefit really can push a gal to her budgetary limits!!

This is something that has put me off a lot of Benefit's stuff before now so I'm very glad to have found something that I am genuinely happy that I forked out my hard earned pennys for! :)

Coralista has been like a breath of fresh air to my makeup routine. It's the most gorgeous mix of pink and peach with a hint of shimmer that will totally brighten up any complexion. I can't think of any skin tone that this wouldn't suit!

Unlike Benefit Dandelion which goes on far too sheer for my liking, Coralista's colour pay-off is to die for, which makes it a big step up for Benefit in my opinion!

The packaging is equally impressive. Sure, Benefit may still insist on putting powders in cardboard boxes and leaving them prone to damage, but gosh-darnit its cute cardboard!

I adore the finish it leaves on my skin, and I cannot wait for summer... I reckon this will be divine in the sunshine on the beach or whatever! Oh, and it smells yum too :)

I have tried to think of some cons, but I can't find any! This is deffo my FAVE out of the Box-O-Powders I've tried and I ask anyone who has thought about making a first Benefit purchase to run straight for Coralista, because this is one product that will not dissappoint :)

Any other Coralista fans out there?!

*Thanks for reading*

x x x

Ash

x x x

Quick Review and Swatches: Nyx Make-Up Artist Palette

Hi my lovelies :)

Well I very recently got this Nyx Make-Up Artist kit and I thought that I would give you a super quick review of my initial thoughts on it...

warning: picture heavy

The goods include too layers, one of 35 eyeshadows and the other with powder blushes, highlight/contour powders and lipglosses. It also comes with a couple of foam e/s applicators and a teeny tiny blush brush but I don't think I'll be using these to be honest!

When I first opened it and saw the huge eyeshadows glaring up at me I thought oh yay! But then I nearly had a heartattack because I almost dropped them... It took a moment for my blonde self to realise the top layer just lifts completely off the palette... :/

Once I got over that initial shock I realised that that would be pretty handy while doing your makeup at the mirror, as you wouldn't need to try and balance the whole big heavy bulky palette in your hand... So thumbs up there!

Here are the shadows with flash...

and without....

And just because I am in a swatchy mood here are some random swatches especially for you! :)

As you can see from the pics this is not a palette for those against shimmer... I like a lot of these vibrant colours but it would've been nice to have a few matte shades in there for variety.

On to the second layer... Please excuse the finger marks!

Swatches of the blushes:

Ok.

Not trying to be a moaning mindy over here but I'm not crazy about the blushes so far... The browny shades are just not for me. These and the contour shades seem a little too harsh on my skin, even with a light hand.

The baby pink one on the other hand (second swatch from the left) I am loving! It's a real Barbie pink :)

As I said I haven't had this very long but I am looking forward to trying out the shadows. Some of the shades look so so pretty I'm hoping that will translate well onto the lid!

As for the glosses...well...I'm not a huge fan of glosses in palettes to e honest so they haven't excited me too much! However I will give em a try and who knows they could be amazing!?

I'm sorry that this wasn't the most detailed review, but if anyone is interested I'd be happy to do an update on this after some more use :) I thought it'd be nice to share my first thoughts on this with my gorge followers!

I'm off to the land of nod now. No matter how many shadows we have, we still need the beauty sleep girls! Sigh...

Anybody else tried this or another Nyx palette? Let me know what you thought!

* Thanks so much for reading *

x x x

Ash

x x x

Review and Swatches: Urban Decay 24/7 Super Stash

Care for a quick UD review with some rushed swatches???

You got it! :)

I was lucky enough to receive this as a belated Chrimbo present a couple of weeks ago.... Happy times!

So whats the dealio?

Nine mini versions of their waterproof 24/7 eyeliner pencils, some safely dark, some colourful, all gorgeous!

First impression - happy! They look great. Really cute packaging (gotta love UD for that) so they'd make a great present.

They are really small which is annoying when you love one and are afraid it'll run out but they are great for trying out new colours and throwing into your bag on the way out somewhere.

These are seriously the softest liners I have ever used... love em!

Pigmentation and lasting power are also up to standard you'll be glad to hear! :)

My faves are zero, oil slick and El Dorado, but I have to admit I probably won't get much use out of graffiti - I guess I just amn't really a green eyeliner kinda gal.

If I'm honest I probably wouldn't buy a full size of all of them, but it's great to have the chance to add a rainbow of colours to your collection in one swoop with these minis!

All in all, a big thumbs up from me :)

Swatch time:

Left - Right

♥ Zero (classic)

♥ Oil Slick (new & exclusive)

♥ Corrupt (new & exclusive)

♥ El Dorado (new & exclusive)

♥ Graffiti (classic)

♥ Binge (new & exclusive)

♥ Ransom (classic)

♥ Stash (classic)

♥ Rockstar (classic)

x x x

Ash

x x x