Honeybee Gardens Mascara

This mascara retails on iHerb for $8.46 (about €6.25) which is pretty reasonable as natural mascaras go!

Upsides

- It's pretty affordable

- It's black (I got the colour Black Magic)

- Super natural and vegan ingredients

-Long-lasting (this stuff is nap-proof, people)

Downsides

-No discernible volume or length added

-Doesn't layer well

-Can take time to build up

After 1 coat

Close-up ;)

It gives a natural lash look, as I've discovered to be the case with most natural mascaras. The formula is more on the wet side, with a spooly-style spiral bristle applicator. I think the packaging looks really cute, not that it makes any difference to the product that's in the tube! 

I have found that this mascara doesn't layer well, so once it has dried, leave it alone rather than going for another coat, which can really clump the lashes. 

This mascara works best when wearing light/no makeup on the lids, as it pops against a light background. It frames the eyes well, gives slightly defined and separated lashes, but isn't going to WOW on the lash front. It's a great every day grab-and-go product. 

Ingredients

Purified water/aqua, serenoa repens (saw palmetto) fruit extract, hydrogenated glyceryl abietate, brassica campestris, aleurites fordi oil copolymer, copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax*, glycerin, persea gratissima (avocado) butter, triisostearyl citrate, stearic acid, euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax, aloe (barbadensis) leaf extract**, rosemary (rosmarinus officinalis) leaf extract**, xanthan gum, d-alpha tocopherol, sodium hyaluronate, methylcellulose, ethylhexylglycerin, phenethyl alcohol. May Contain/Peut Contenir: mica, iron oxides (CI77499, CI77492).

*certified organic ingredient, ** made with certified organic ingredients

Silk Naturals Lippiepalooza Swatches!

A note on the formulations: the bright lipsticks are incredibly pigmented and wonderfully hydrating, however they definitely leave a stain. Great if you want the colour to last after the lipstick wears off, not so great if you want to remove the colour! For this reason I was unable to get an accurate swatch of the Amplifying Lip Glaze in Blushberry, which is quite sheer and wears like a gloss. It's the third colour down in this arm swatch taken from my Instagram (@TeenyTemptress).

Top-Bottom: Lois, Jane, Blushberry, Zap, Wham, Zing, Vroom

Lois

This first shade is called Lois, and comes off as a light, neutral pink on my lips. A great everyday, tame colour.

Jane

Next, we have Jane; still a wearable pink, but more on the fuchsia side and with some mica shimmer apparent with heavy application. If worn sheer over a lip balm, the shimmer doesn't show noticeably on the lips.

Vroom

Vroom is a pink-based red. It is matte with a velvet texture, none of these lipsticks are drying but they do STAIN!

Wham

Wham has the same texture and colour intensity as Vroom, but is a true fuchsia pink. I love this colour, it screams 'Barbie' to me!

Zap

Zap is a bright orange which tends somewhat towards red. I find it an excellent replacement for my Revlon lipstick in Kiss Me Coral.

Zing

I saved my favourite for last. This is Zing. It is one of the most perfect, true reds I have ever worn on my lips and it is absolutely beautiful. This will be living on my lips year round, it's a classic!!

The All Natural Face (TANF) Swatches and Review

These are the 2 cream blushes I picked up, and I couldn't be without them! I love the formula and the colour, these are lovely to work with. Dusky Rose is definitely my favourite, it works really well on the lips, too! I've swatched both colours quite heavily here, but they don't need much to get a good amount of colour. Dusky Rose is matte, Touch of Pink has shimmer.

I took a guess at my foundation shade and went for Porcelain Kissed by Honey. I think this is too pale/yellow to use as an all-over foundation, but I love it for concealing redness and blemishes. The formula will CLING TO DRY PATCHES so make sure to exfoliate and moisturise well before applying.

I ordered the sample kit of ALL the vegan glows/veils. As you can see, most are more suitable as blush colours! Wedding Day Glow barely shows up on the skin, it is a light, pink-toned powder which blends away to nothing on my skin. Would be lovely as a subtle setting powder! The rest work great as powder blushes, and I have used some layered over the cream blushes, too.

Here is their gel eyeliner (more of a liquid in my opinion) and as you can see, this brown is very dark. I use it interchangeably with my ELF black gel pot liner when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to dirty an eyeliner brush. There are some hairs which have started to splay on TANF eyeliner, but it's still quite easy to work with.

I love using eye primer, whether it's for real or imagined benefits! This primer really mattifies the eye and sets quickly; it doesn't remain tacky or sticky. It provides minimal coverage, but really smooths the texture of the eyelid. I usually apply a sheer skin-toned colour over the top of this primer before applying my shadow.

This is the lipgloss that has rekindled my love of lipgloss. It is incredibly sheer and not sticky at all, two things that I really appreciate! I reapply this as if it were lipbalm and love wearing it alone or over lipsticks!

If you missed it, here is my first impressions video where I am wearing some of the products mentioned above!

Hope you're all having a wonderful day, Alanna xx

Spirit Lounge Sample Haul

I stumbled upon this website and was drawn in by the sample offer they have going on: 9 samples for €20 (including shipping). They have a range of cool brands on here, so I figured I would give some of them a try! They have plenty of natural and organic skincare, haircare and makeup goodies to choose from!

The samples come in a little gift bag, cool for repurposing or giving away to friends. I would also like to mention that they use only paper envelopes, no bubble wrap here!! It's nice to see a company that cares about environmental impact.

Favourite Winter Blushes

Tis the season to be jolly (there's 31 days left til Christmas!) and nothing makes you look jollier than a lovely flush of colour on your cheeks.

L-R: Elf Matte Pink; Bella Bamba; MUA Mosaic; ELF Blushing Rose

Looking Good For Less

As women, we have dozens of tricks up our sleeves for looking good. Here are some products that I feel are unsung heroes! Just because a product comes from the drugstore, doesn't mean it can't make you look good! So, for all ma sistahs on a budget, these are my top picks!