one year cruelty free & new year's resolutions

this post has been long overdue now as i officially began shopping cruelty free in october 2013, but with the new year being around the corner and the vast majority of us desperate to make new years resolutions to stick to, i thought i'd talk about my transition now in the hopes of inspiring some of my readers to perhaps consider shopping cruelty free. 

so, let's start at the beginning... i adopted my cruelty free stance after reading up about the 2013 eu ban on selling animal tested cosmetic products, and realising that there's much more to the issue than originally appears. i quickly learnt about the loopholes and what truly makes a brand cruelty free or not, and decided that i wanted to avoid the dishonest brands that were keen to avoid admitting their products were actually tested on animals. it's very easy to be ignorant of the issue as animal testing isn't something brands are keen to discuss when they do test, so reading up on the issue helped to open my eyes and really reinforced how strongly i opposed animal testing for cosmetic purposes, and thus inspired me to change my habits. 

i'll secondly move onto addressing the fact that while other cf bloggers aren't, i personally am happy to support cruelty free brands that are owned by testing parent companies. my reasoning for this is simple: i believe that if everyone swapped from purchasing l'oreal products to the body shop products, the parent company would then perhaps see where their customers' interests lie, and because of this could perhaps be persuaded to reconsider their stance with their brands that do test on animals in order to sell more products once again to their cf audience, in turn reaching a wider audience. i also believe that to boycott brands that have worked for their cf status due to a greedy parent company could harm them and potentially push them into closing, which means one less cf brand on the market to advocate the ban of all cosmetic animal testing, and also one less available brand for cf shoppers to support. whether you agree with me or not is completely your own call, but i'm firm in my beliefs. 

so, how was the transition for me? pretty easy, actually. i think what puts a lot of people off taking the jump to cf cosmetics is the fear that they'll struggle to find products to live up to their current (potentially tested) favourites, but there's such a wide range of cf brands available that i truly believe that there'd be something for everyone. more budget brands such as collection and makeup revolution are readily available on the high street, and high end brands such as urban decay or nars are also available within many department stores – also found on the high street – to satisfy those looking for something a little bit more expensive. i've found that i've become a fan of superdrug's own brand b., the online shop elf and makeup revolution because they're all budget brands offering good quality products, and they now make up a good portion of my everyday makeup and skincare essentials. 

choosing to go cruelty free has been really rewarding for me personally, and i'd strongly recommend it to anybody. nowadays i can shop completely guilt free, and know that my makeup probably looks just as good as my friends' who wear mac or rimmel because really, i think makeup's all in the application. since purchasing a set of real techniques brushes (which are also cf!) i find that my makeup applies like a dream whether it's from collection or urban decay, so i'd say that it's well worth investing in a good set of makeup brushes if you're looking for perfect makeup, not an expensive brand that tests on animals. 

i hope i've potentially inspired a few of you to consider shopping cruelty free, and i also hope that i haven't sounded too preachy. i feel really strongly about shopping cruelty free and try to advise friends on cf products where possible, but i don't like to aggressively shove my opinions down others' throats because i believe that we're all entitled to form our own opinions. i truly believe that one day cosmetic animal testing will be completely eradicated, but in the meantime i think committed cf shoppers and brands are just helping to speed up the process. 

if i have inspired you to consider a cf makeup bag, here are some points of advice and links that i think could come in useful for beginning your transition:

• read up about the eu ban on cosmetic animal testing
• don't throw out all your current tested makeup; you paid for it, you might as well use it, just acknowledge that you won't be throwing money into their pot again
• check out the leaping bunny's cruelty free guide; it isn't completely comprehensive, but it's a good starting point
• check out moadore's and phyrra's cf guides; they address companies that may not be leaping bunny certified, but are indeed cruelty free
• do your own research; not all the answers can be found on the internet, so don't be scared to contact brands yourself for your own peace of mind

some of my favourite cruelty free brands are listed below, and they offer both makeup and skincare products:

• elf
• superdrug's b.
• lush
• sleek
• soap & glory

so, what's next for me? obviously i'm not a cf expert and fall short in some areas, but i'm actively trying to broaden my knowledge and slip up as little as possible. in the past year i've slipped up once in terms of cosmetics, buying a simple product as they're marketed as suitable for vegans, to later find out that they do indeed test on animals, which makes me question how they believe that they're suitable for vegans. other areas i want to focus on when shopping cruelty free are cleaning products and perfumes. i buy most of my cleaning products from aldi (their own brand is cf) so i think i'm mostly clean, however a bit more research can ensure that i'll avoid tested brands altogether. most supermarkets' own brands are cf (morrisons and sainsbury's in particular) so they're perhaps a good place to start. in terms of perfume, i've noticed that most drugstore brands are in fact tested on animals, sadly. i've done research on cf perfumes before and, to my knowledge, they're not very easily available (other than in the body shop,) so in 2015 i want to focus on creating a list of cf perfumes that i can replace my current tested favourites with.

in addition to extending my cf stance, i also want to concentrate on becoming vegetarian. since beginning third year i've reduced my meat intake dramatically as i no longer eat meat at home, but when eating out i often opt for meat dishes as a treat. after many a moral dilemma, i've decided that i just don't agree with eating meat any more, and my own new year's resolution is to give up meat altogether. because i've cut out meat so much from my diet as it is i don't think it'll be a great struggle, it just requires a bit more discipline on my own behalf and to stay in touch with what meat actually is, because sillily, it's easy to forget that the chicken burger you're enjoying was once living and breathing. again, you may not agree with my decision, but it's something i've considered for a while now and strongly want to pursue. 

and with that said, i think that concludes my post! i hope i've perhaps inspired any of you, and good luck if you do decide to try out the cf lifestyle! i don't often set myself new year's resolutions because i find the whole 'new year, new start' thing a little bit silly, but i think this year it's the perfect excuse to finally pursue my beliefs for good. what are your new year's resolutions for 2015? 

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

my unsung heroes

1: elf blush brush / 2: real techniques buffing brush / 3: elf small stipple brush

4: real techniques contour brush / 5: real techniques detailer brush / 6: h&m eyeshadow brush
7: collection lasting perfection concealer / 8: eyelash curlers / 9: burt's bees lip balm / 10: elf makeup mist & set

i tend to keep up with my weekly beauty post well and in all the weeks i've been posting, i've rarely (or not at all) mentioned any of the products that i use on a daily basis that have well and truly become staples within my makeup bag, so today i thought i'd show them some love and talk you through some of the items i couldn't live without. 

1 - 6: ah, makeup brushes, where would i be without you? i bought my first proper set of makeup brushes last september (i think) and i opted for the real techniques core collection, just because it seemed like a sensible place to start, and since loving them i've picked up a couple of other makeup brushes along the way. i always used to blame the products i was using when i ended up with an unsatisfying finish, but after trading in my cheapo makeup brushes for these more expensive ones i've learnt that it's definitely in the way you apply the product rather than the product itself, which has changed the way i wear makeup completely. 

7: a firm favourite amongst bloggers is the collection lasting perfection conceal, and there's really no mystery as to why because it's a fantastic little product for the £4 price tag. nowadays i tend not to wear a full face of foundation, and instead touch up any blemishes and around my eyes with this, dust with a powder and i'm good to go for the rest of the day!

8: i was at a friend's house the other day and was shocked to learn that she didn't own a pair of eyelash curlers! they're something i never mention on my blog, but every day without fail they help me to achieve a little bit more of a curl in my lashes before i go in with my mascara, and i won't be changing that fact any time soon. 

9: a good lip balm is a must for everyone, and recently the burt's bees lip balms have grown on me quite a bit. they're fairly thick to apply and feel slightly waxy on the lips, but the moisture hangs around for a while after application because it slowly seeps its way into your lips, making sure they're getting the moisture that's needed.

10: and finally, a setting mist. i've only ever used this e.l.f. offering, and it's always worked well enough for me to not want to bother looking for a replacement. the spray is very light and natural feeling, as though you're just spraying water onto your face, and doesn't leave a nasty, sticky residue behind. i've worn this every day now for as long as i can remember and it finishes off my makeup nicely while leaving my skin feeling refreshed.

what are your unsung heroes? is there something missing from my list that sits firmly on yours that i should have tried out? please do let me know!

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

project bare all | why I wear makeup

after reading zoe's makeup rehab & project bare all post last week, i thought it'd be nice this wednesday to touch on the topic myself as opposed to my usual beauty based wednesday post. a few times in my life, whether it be from my parents, friends, boyfriends, whoever, i've had people comment on my makeup. why do i buy so much? why do i wear so much? why do i spend so long applying it? how can i be bothered to put so much effort in? and so on and so forth, so i thought i'd use this post to talk about why i as an individual choose to wear makeup.

so, there i am, first thing on a morning with 0 hair taming or makeup application having happened. in zoe's post she refers to her makeupless self as the 'real me', and while i understand where she's coming from, i don't completely agree with what she's saying. the above photos show the physical real me, but actually, i don't think bare faced me portrays the 'real me', as in the me who has tastes, a personality and a particular style, but how could it ever? existing naturally it is a blank canvas, and it's the detail then added to it that begins to paint the picture on the exterior that reflects the interior, where i believe the 'real me' exists, as in the human version of myself who is more than just a body. does my natural body, my natural aesthetic say anything about me as a person? of course not! it's the ways in which i manipulate my body that start to tell you about 'the real me', the me as a person, and here's why. 

so, why do i wear makeup? first of all, because it's a lot of fun. i love browsing drug stores, trying new products, getting excited by products, finding products which completely change my make up routine... i could go on! one of my friends gets equally excited about dvds, buying them in abundance, and while i don't get the obsession myself, i don't try to make her feel bad about it. yet it seems with makeup, there's always a person trying to put you down about it, as though makeup is entirely superficial. sure, i like my face after a half hour session painting it up, but buying, applying and wearing makeup has become something of a hobby of mine, and i'm sure plenty of others would agree that makeup is also that for them, too. now, of course some people won't understand it, and that's fine; all i'm saying is that everyone has different hobbies, and makeup happens to be one of mine. as much as i enjoy the end result of using makeup, i get much more enjoyment out of it than simply the final outcome. 

i've also come to question why makeup is viewed so negatively within society. you often hear bitchy comments about how girls are 'fake' because they wear too much makeup, yet i couldn't honestly say i'd ever been called fake due to a couple of other choices i've made when modifying my body, one being my nose ring. if anything, shouldn't a piercing make me more fake because it's a little more permanent than the makeup i choose to wear every day? i mean, i can't simply remove it and instantly there be no trace of its existence. or how about my dyed hair? i'm stuck with that until i spend years growing it out into its natural state, yet not once have i ever been scrutinised about my choice to dye my hair because it makes me 'fake'. i'm not sure where people draw the distinctions between what does and doesn't make a person, girls in particular, 'fake', but it's all extremely confusing and bred out of insecurity, i'd imagine (but again, perhaps another topic for another day.) 

so, let's talk about my nose ring briefly. just like the clothes i wear or the accessories i adorn my body with, my nose ring was a choice that i made because i felt it reflected a part of my personality that i thought would be nice to show externally. similarly, i choose to say different things about myself every day based on the makeup i choose to wear, and these differences in my daily makeup can reflect even the most minor fluctuation in my disposition that day. feeling fierce? a dark red lip normally occurs. feeling lazy? skip the winged eyeliner. they're normally such tiny decisions, but they speak volumes about my feelings on any one particular day, and my personality in general. just as i use clothes, i use makeup to communicate messages about me that i'd like people to receive as quickly as possible. of course, the most effective way to communicate my personality is to open my mouth and speak to people, but sometimes you're not always given that opportunity, so to as accurately as possible communicate to somebody who i am, i find that hair, makeup and clothing can help me to do so in a non-verbal manner, and why is that such a negative thing? i know you're always told to not judge a book by its cover, but i think it's useful when the cover can provide you with a concise, accurate preview of the full story.

it's not that i dislike my natural face, far from it, i just find it a bit boring. naturally, i'm just the same as everybody else; not aesthetically, of course, but i'm still just another human. small physical factors such as whether or not i'm smiling or if i have scars can say things about my personality, but even those don't speak volumes, so i find the best way to convey my inner self accurately through my exterior is to manipulate it and decorate it until i feel that it's saying what i want it to. who knows, maybe it's my illustrator mind that means i'm so involved with trying to accurately portray my character through my aesthetics, because that's what i find interesting and enjoy doing, and i think it's very sad that i'm often made to feel bad about my interests and hobbies because they may revolve around using and wearing makeup. ultimately, it comes down to communication. like a piece of my illustration work, i want people to begin to understand what's happening underneath from one single glance, and makeup helps me to communicate that message just a little bit more effectively. is that such a crime?

to conclude, i feel that it's important to state that i use makeup because i want it to reflect the person on the inside, not because i'm insecure about what's on the outside. it's taken good a year or so of practising self love and a well considered skincare routine, but i'm finally at a point where i can look in a mirror bare faced and be content with what i see. so, what about you? i'd love to hear why you do or don't wear makeup!

 

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

makeup revolution mini haul

amazing lipstick in shade 'the one': £1

 nail polish in shade 'devil inside' (not online): £1

double flick liquid eyeliner (not online): £3.50

redemption palette in 'iconic 2': £4

makeup revolution is a brand that's been on my radar now for a few months after spotting its fantastic bargain dupes of the naked palettes, but my interest in the brand really peaked when maxine posted a youtube video about a makeup revolution haul of hers. maxine is also a cruelty free shopper, so after seeing her video and conducting a bit of research of my own, i decided they were good to go and  began browsing their online superdrug section to see what they had to offer.

a couple of days later i then found myself in a superdrug by chance, and to my delight, they had a brand-spanking-new makeup revolution stand for me to have a browse through! the first thing i reached for, of course, was the redemption palette, which i think is a super dupe for the naked 2 palette, with shimmery golds, browns and an intense matte black. at £4, throwing it into my shopping basket was a complete no brainer. 

while i was there, i decided to pick up a couple more bits and bobs to try out because they were all super duper cheap, and i reached for a lipstick and nail polish which both retail for a tiny £1. i opted for two fairly nude shades, which are, i'd say, pinks with slight purple undertones, making for a somewhat lilacy colour when applied. from experience i've learnt that orange toned nude lipsticks just do not work with my skintone, but a slight purple tone seems to do the job. i'm also weird about my nail colour matching what it is that i wear, so i'm a fan of a subtle, somewhat nude shade that can be worn with most outfits without clashing too harshly.

lastly, i picked up yet another eyeliner pen. this one doesn't have a waterproof promise, but it does have a thick and thin end, meaning i can have complete control over my wing. i haven't used this on my eyelids yet, but i swatched it and boy, it was black, and i'm hoping it acts as some kind of soap & glory/eyeko hybrid which will enable me to achieve super precise, super black flicks! only time will tell, but for £3.50 it won't be much of a loss if it disappoints me.

needless to say i'm very excited to give all these products a go, and for £9.50 they were such fantastic value for money. if there's anything in particular that you'd like me to write up about, please do let me know. other than that, you can probably expect yet another eyeliner pen review documenting my quest to find the perfect one!

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

waterproof eye makeup on a budget

 

primark waterproof mascara: £2 | collection waterproof fast stroke eyeliner: £2.99

for a while now i've been on the lookout for suitable waterproof eye makeup because, quite frankly, i'm sick of the sight of tiny dogs leaving me with alice cooper inspired eye makeup (i.e. black all over the bloody place.) what i mean by that is that i wanted to be able to go the day with perhaps a little bit of a runny eye and my makeup still remain in tact, so off i set on my quest to find a suitable waterproof mascara and eyeliner, as my everyday makeup more often than not incorporates dramatic lashes and a winged eye.

now, if you know me, i'm one hell of a cheapskate, so obviously i wasn't going to be splashing out on any fancy high end makeup that would probably do the job but set me back an awful lot, so i started in my beloved drugstores and online. over the last few months i've tried all sorts of products from elf, collection, primark, soap and glory and pixi, and surprisingly the products that have done the best job for me were two of the cheapest: primark's mascara and collection's eyeliner.

first up: primark's mascara. for £2 i really wasn't expecting all that much, which meant that afterwards i was just all the more impressed by it. it gives length, definition, volume and is waterproof, so for £2 you really can't sniff at it! in terms of its waterproofness (is that a word? who cares, you get the gist) it definitely works as it doesn't run throughout the day, and it's something of a pain to take off at night! i normally need to go over my eyes several times before all traces of the mascara is gone, and my god do i need to as any remaining product irritates my eyes to no end. all that said, of course the product does have its downfalls. the formula can often become a little clumpy, so when pulling the wand from the tube you have to give it a good ol' run along the top of the tube to get rid of the extra product, but as long as you're careful with the wand, the product's fantastic – a tiny compromise for such a tiny price tag!

onto collection's eyeliner: i must admit, i have a complete love/hate relationship with this product. i remember finding the product really hard to work with for a week or so after purchase as the nib was still a bit stiff and wouldn't distribute the product evenly, but once i'd softened it up a bit it was fine and the product was gliding perfectly onto my eyelids. the weartime of the product is good, but not perfect as it does begin to flake and fade slightly through the day. however, in comparison to other felt tip liners that i've tried, it's definitely one-upping them as it doesn't actually run and leave a load of black around your lids and under your eye, it just becomes a little less black, which i'm sure is probably a preferable option for most of you winged eyeliner lovers out there.

now, to shame myself on the internet, i'd like to point out that the weartime of the products together is impressive for a combined price tag of £4.99, as i've slept in them and worked out in them before and they've never transferred or ran, just simply flaked a bit, leaving my eyes looking a little lack lustre, however not a completely 'i spent the night at someone else's and now i'm making my way home' kind of mess. you get me? i do hope so!

to conclude: these products do the job. they're far from fantastic, but for £5 for the two of them i don't think you can really expect them to be. if you're easily pleased and like to go easy on your bank account, i'd recommend giving these a go, and even if you're not all that impressed, does it matter all that much for a fiver? i have been eyeing up some eyeko products recently as they promise a waterproof finish and no animal testing, however the issue still lies in whether or not i can part with £10+ for a mascara and eyeliner. watch this space...

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

superdrug B. haul

you may remember a couple of weeks back that i reviewed some of the body shop skincare products that i'd, for the most part, been really disappointed by, so when i spotted that superdrug were offering 50% off their own cruelty free brand B. i decided to have a mooch around what they had to offer online and found myself quickly placing an order; at 50% off, i had to, right?!

B. naked light hydrating foundation in 010 Linen £8.99 | B. vivid eyeshadow in 107 cinnamon £4.99

for a while now i've been having a bit of a feud with foundations, bb creams and face bases in general, finding that most products are just too heavy and cakey for my liking. to be perfectly honest, i have been opting for the cheapest options i've been able to scout out, so that's no doubt not helping me in my desperate quest for a subtle, lightweight base; cue the b. naked foundation, promising to give a 'beautiful sheer coverage'. normally priced at £8.99, which is pretty much bog standard for a high street foundation, i took the opportunity presented to me and snapped it up to try while it was on offer for just £4.50. as for the eyeshadow, i picked this up to replace my current mua eyebrow kit that's taking up a little bit too much room in my makeup bag for my liking, and i also thought it looked a pretty good reddish brown to sit as naturally as possible with my red hair.

B. even skin tone corrector 15ml £9.99 | B. energised eye cream 15ml £8.99

i decided to throw the skintone corrector into my basket in the hope that it'd do the job the body shop pore perfector promised to do but didn't, and because i'd never dabbled in an eye cream before, i thought now would be a good opportunity to do so. £9 and £10 is a little pricey for these items in my eyes, so while i could snag them for £5 and less i thought it was worth investigating whether or not the items live up to their somewhat spectacular price tag - we'll see!

 B. pure micellar water 150ml £4.99 | B. refined exfoliating cleanser 125ml £5.49

ah, micellar water, i've heard so many good things about you, yet never tried you for myself! i know a lot of you "beauty gurus" will probably shout at me for admitting this, but i'm a face wipe gal before i get to work on my face with my usual lush cleanser, sorry! i purchased this purely to see what all the hype is about - all good things, i hope! as for the cleanser, it was something of an impulse purchase as it was a little under £3 and i'm always game for trying new cleansers (slap on the wrist for me.)

every item listed here is documented at its full price, so where the bundle should've cost me around £43, i snagged it all for just £21, which i don't think is terrible at all for six items. i'm hoping these will impress me a little more than the body shop items did, so stay tuned to see how i got on with them all - if there's anything in particular you'd like me to include in any future review posts, please do feel free to let me know in the comments below!

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

where have you been all my life?! e.l.f. eyebrow treat & tame

e.l.f. eyebrow treat & tame in medium £3.95

if you'd have asked me this time last year what i thought of my eyebrows right now, i'd have raised an eyebrow and told myself i looked like an owl (you know, the little pointy hairs above their eyes?!) and set to work plucking away the unruly bushy hairs growing towards the inner corner of my eyes. fast forward a year and thank god my eyebrow point of view has drastically changed! it was around this time last year that i began using powder to fill in my eyebrows rather than a pencil as i'd grown tired of the super precise, false looking brows, and wanted to go for something a little more natural looking instead, and with that, naturally, i started to grow back my beloved brows.

a year on and i'm well on my way to having the brows i desire, however they're still very much a work in progress. those pesky owlish inner hairs that once were plucked before having the chance to see the light of day now simply just don't grow fast enough for my liking, and thanks to the e.l.f. treat & tame, i can now fake my way to a more bushy, fuller looking brow.

i picked the treat & tame up on a whim while browsing the NYC e.l.f. store after seeing a load of bloggers raving about other brow gels such as the maybelline and benefit ones, but little did i know just how much of a positive effect it was going to have. just after moisturising on a morning, i use the 'treat' side of the tube all over my brows with particular attention paid to the inner corner, and then do the same again every night. i don't really know if the gel's doing any good, but i figure since it's there i might as well use it. once i've filled in my brows with powder, i set to work on them with the 'tame' side of the tube, brushing the hairs upwards to set them, add a little extra colour and give them more of a bushy, full appearance that nowadays i just love. i understand everyone's eyebrow preferences differ, but since using this product i've completely fallen back in love with my brows now i can pretend that i've been blessed with thick, bushy brows... or something like that.

i cannot rave enough about this product and will most definitely be repurchasing it for a mere £3.95. if you're a bushy brows fan yourself, i would definitely, absolutely, positively recommend giving this a go; i can't say for certain as i haven't tried them, however i imagine it does pretty much the same job as the maybelline and benefit options, however it's a fraction of the price and cruelty free (hint hint), so why the hell not?!

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

jaded

jumper: primark
dress: primark
necklace: topshop
boots: primark

ok, i am a total primark fangirl. whenever i go into town i just have to have a browse, regardless of whether i want or need any new clothes - after all, just looking can't hurt, right? right, especially when you can pick up a jumper and a dress for just £13! i'd eyed up this dress on the primark website, so when i saw it in store i didn't have to think about taking it into the changing rooms with me. i also spotted this jumper whilst browsing and thought it'd look fab layered over the dress because of how the colour of it complements the colours in the dress. i'd previously bought the chelsea boots, but they look bloody good with just about anything - well done, primark, you did good!

i'm also pleased to have recently added collection to my list of cruelty free makeup brands. at first i was unsure about the brand, but after seeing that other cruelty free bloggers trust it, i decided to go ahead and add it to my own list. shortly after this, i browsed a stand in boots and was taken by this gorgeous, deep burgundy shade of lipstick from the new gothic glam range and snapped it up quickly. after having looked for a dark, vampy shade for a while and seemingly failing to find one that was dark enough for my liking, at £2.99 i was pretty damn pleased to have found this!

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

e.l.f. makeup review

a couple of months back i placed a huge order with e.l.f., so i thought i'd do a follow up post talking about the products that most impressed me. as well as the products pictured above, i also purchased a blusher, nail polishes, a zit zapper and a lip exfoliator (that i'd previously used and been impressed with,) however those products haven't impressed me as much as the three pictured.

tone correcting powder in cool: £3.75
i opted for this powder simply because it intrigued me; i'd never seen anything quite like it before and was eager to give it a go. i'm glad i chose this option over a regular powder with a shade such as 'ivory' or 'porcelain' because i find that this powder gives a nice, light finish that adapts to the natural colour of your skin rather than caking and masking your face in the colour of the powder, like other shaded powders that i've tried before have. overall, i'm extremely impressed with the quality of this product and have recently purchased two more to ensure i'm well stocked up for a while.

therapeutic conditioning lip balm in vanilla creme: £1.50
i used one of these up within a couple of months which i found incredible as i've never actually finished a lip balm before, which said two things to me: a) that this product is good, and b) that there's not much of it - i believe both statements to be true. you don't get a lot of product in the tube, but at £1.50, can you really complain? as for the quality, i'm currently using a burt's bees lip balm that i purchased after running out of my e.l.f. lip balm, and i much prefer the e.l.f. lip balm to it. where i find the burt's bees balm to just sit on top of your lips rather than sinking into them, the e.l.f. balm, for me, does the complete opposite and totally moisturises your lips leaving them feeling supple and smooth. i've ordered another 3 of these and feel that this product has definitely become a staple in my makeup bag.

makeup mist & set: £3.75
this is one of those products that you never seem to realise does anything until you stop using it. i stopped using this product for a couple of days to see how it benefited my face and noticed that my makeup was much more prone to caking and fading throughout the day; the foundation around my nose would start to wear away so my pores became more noticeable, and my blusher would fade dramatically. basically, the product does what it states it does and keeps everything nicely in place while providing your face with a little bit of moisture. i'd previously used hairspray to set my face (bad, i know,) so anything would've proved to be a better alternative. i also decided to repurchase this product and probably will continue to do so unless i find something better.

other products
i ordered a blusher in the shade 'twinkle pink', and while i really like the pretty, rose gold sheen it gives to my face, unfortunately the product arrived a little beaten and has since completely fallen apart which makes it a pain to use. the nail polishes i ordered seem standard in that they chip fairly easily, but then again i find it hard to find a nail polish that lasts any longer than an hour on my nails before chipping - maybe i just use my hands too much?! - so i suppose it's hard to give an honest judgement when most nail polishes disappoint me. the zit zapper was also an average product, doing the same job as a previous zit zapper i'd purchased, it just means i now have a cruelty free option.

as well as the repurchases i've mentioned above, in my order i also purchased a lipstick, concealer and makeup brush to try out, so please do let me know if you'd like me to drop by and review them in the near future! to wrap up, all in all, i'm extremely impressed by e.l.f. as the products are generally of a good standard, they're dirt cheap and cruelty free. i'll definitely be heading back to them in the future when i run out of products that i want a cruelty free alternative to.

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

h&m | eyeshadow palette

h&m eyeshadow palette, 'biscotti dreams': £2.99

i'd eyed up the h&m eyeshadow palettes every time i'd stepped foot inside a store for a fair few months, and after doing a little bit of research and discovering that h&m's cosmetics are cruelty free, i decided to head back to my local store and pick a palette up.

i opted for the 'biscotti dreams' palette which features three nude brown shades and a cream as i like a fairly subtle, nonchalant looking smoky eye. i like smoky eyes because while looking effortlessly grungy, colours such as browns help to make the green in my eyes really pop (good god, i really do sound like a beauty blogger now, don't i?) and i think from now on i may retire my felt tip liner for a while and trade a pristine catflick for this more effortless (see also: lazy) approach.

admittedly, the eyeshadows do somewhat rub off throughout the day with the darkest colours appearing lighter when you've done your 9 - 5 at uni, however they don't rub off around or under the eye at all so there's never any mess to tidy up; it's just a case of reapplying if you're busy in the evening! at just £2.99 i'm definitely not complaining, and i'm also debating going back to buy a couple more eyeshadow palettes as there were also palettes featuring greys, blacks and pinks that i was fairly intrigued by.

have you used h&m cosmetics before? if not, will you now be having a browse yourself?

 

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin

e.l.f. haul

last week i found myself trawling the e.l.f. website, and since finding out that their products are 100% cruelty free (verified by and approved by peta, which i thought just had to be legit because, let's face it, peta are crazy at times,) i decided to go ahead and treat myself to a few essentials (and some not so essentials.)

while browsing the website it turned out that i was browsing at a time that meant i qualified for 30% off (hurrah for late night online shopping,) so i kind of went a little bit crazy adding things to my basket, and when the delivery arrived, the full to the brim box helped to reinforce that fact - oops! me and a friend placed an order together which totalled around £42, which after discount was £30 which also meant we were eligible for free shipping. my share of the order totalled £17, which i thought was a complete steal seeing as i'd ordered 10 items.

before placing this order i'd only ever used one e.l.f. product which was the lip exfoliator, however after being really impressed by that i was willing to gamble on the quality of the products when placing this order; also, the items are just so cheap (they start from just £1.50) that it's really not too difficult to convince yourself to buy something just to try it out. so far i've used a couple of the nail polishes - which, oddly enough, smell really nice - and the face mist, however i haven't used them enough to form any sort of opinion on them. i'm sure in good time when the products have been used properly i'll have something to report back!

all in all, from previous e.l.f. product experience, the brilliant prices, sleek, fuss free packaging and the fact that everything's cruelty free, i would definitely recommend having a browse through e.l.f.'s website if you're in need of some new, affordable make up. if you'd like to know any of the product names/colours etc. just drop me a tweet and i'll happily let you know!

have you used any e.l.f products before? how did you find them? i'd love to hear any thoughts!

tweet me @xrobynm  |  follow me via bloglovin