Monthly Archives: February 2010

Make-Up Miracles: Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencils review

Posted on February 2, 2010 | 1 comment

Inspired by Alcazar’s neon look for their new album, I thought I’d finally write about one of my favourite make-up miracles, Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils.

I’m a massive fan of Urban Decay anyway; their combination of great packaging, great range and great quality makes their products pretty irresistible in my book. The 24/7 Glide-On Pencils are no exception – and this is coming from someone who has probably tried as many eyeliners as she’s scoffed tubs of Ben & Jerry’s.

They have simply the best range of colours for eyeliners on the market, with vibrant tropical brights, shimmery metallics and sexy dark shades all looming large in their evocatively-named range. My personal favourites are Electric (a zingy turquoise that practically pops out of the pencil), Graffiti (an ultra-flattering iridescent mermaid-green), Lust (a lush regal deep purple – a key colour of the season), 1999 (a goldy-maroon colour that looks so much better than it sounds), Stash (a shag-me dark green/gold/brown that is fantastic for smoky eyes), Demolition (the perfect everyday matte brown)… obviously, I love the whole lot.

The pencils somehow manage to be creamily soft and easily blendable whilst having more staying power than that lingering last party guest who just won’t leave (living up to their 24/7 name) and can be used purely as liners or blended for shading purposes. Waterproof and sweat-proof, they’re absolutely ideal for lazy beach days and sweltering summer nights. So basically, they’re perfection in a pencil. Ideal for make-up miracle number four then.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, £11, from Boots (who sadly don’t do HK delivery yet so get your mates to send you some!)

Originally posted at Teentoday.

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Make-Up Miracles: Aldi Moisturiser review

Posted on February 2, 2010 | 2 comments

It’s simply never too soon to start moisturising – your forty-something self will thank you for it at a later date.

Having said that, it’s safe to say that in your teens and early twenties, you don’t really need to be spending thousands on the stuff. For this reason, Aldi’s cheap and cheerful Siana day and night creams are just the ticket. Apparently the night one has a retinol complex to stimulate cell growth whilst both moisturisers contain the enzyme Q10, the same substance found in more expensive products that mimics the skin’s ability to protect against premature ageing. Quite frankly, the fancy words are immaterial because the make-up miracle is the fact that they cost £1.89 each and actually work.

They are light, sink in easily and do not have an overpowering scent. I’ve tried more expensive creams and these are just as good, if not better than those dearer counterparts. Packaging-wise, they look clean and simple (the jars are at least glass not plastic) so you won’t be embarrassed to have them on your dressing table. So there’s no excuse to not moisturise – and if you don’t, teentoday.co.uk will be the first to say ‘Told you so!’ to your wrinkles!

Originally posted at Teentoday.

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Make-Up Miracles: Vaseline Lip Therapy review

Posted on February 2, 2010 | 1 comment

Oh humble Vaseline, how we love you.  Faddy lip balms may come and go, yet for once, your Mum really was right about the best way to protect your lips from Blighty’s evil winters.

Quite frankly, I’m sick of lip balms that leave your lips worse-off than before you put the stuff on in the first place.  And all those yummy scented ones just result in you wanting to lick them all off (and in one case, a bumble bee attacked my lips).

Vaseline is quite simply the granddaddy of all cosmetic products.  Put it on to prevent lipstick drying out your lips and to give them a shine almost as great as one of Lancome’s far more expensive Juicy Tubes.  Use it on practically any patch of dry skin and it’ll be magically healed in no time – especially when you’ve got a really nasty cold and your nose is practically falling apart because you’ve been blowing it so much (pleasant imagery, I know…). Smudge onto your eyelashes for a subtle shine when you can’t be bothered with mascara. Any other more salubrious uses we remain totally innocent to, of course.

And what’s more it’s a handy pocket size and comes in what advertisers would now call gloriously retro packaging.  And it’s only 96 pence.  So now there’s absolutely no excuses for your lips to be anything less than lush.

Originally posted at Teentoday.

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Make-Up Miracles: Benefit Get Bent Brush review

Posted on February 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably think make-up brushes are a waste of time, money and make-up.  After all, we all have fingers that do the job just as well… don’t they?

Well, maybe not.  The Get Bent brush for eyeliner made by kitsch and cool cosmetics company, Benefit, has turned me into a complete brush convert.

You might think the £11.50 price-tag is a bit much for a twig of wood with some bristles attached.  But here you would be wrong.  Firstly, £11.50 is actually not that bad by professional make-up brush standards – just check out Mac’s massive range of brushes, for which you’d probably need to spend your entire student loan on if you wanted the complete set.  Secondly, and most importantly, this brush will actually save you money!

Using this brush transforms any powder eyeshadow into an eyeliner.  The bristles are uniquely angled to create the perfect line as close to the lashes as possible, with the brush hard enough to get the job done perfectly and professionally, but not hard enough to poke your eye out.

Gone are the days of struggling with easily-blunted rock-hard pencils and unruly and messy liquids (one slip and you wind up looking like a member of the Adams family) – instead, just dab the Get Bent brush in water, swirl it about in your favourite eyeshadow and let the angled bristles do all the work for you.  This multi-tasking of eyeshadows effectively means you never need waste money on eyeliners again.  It’s also perfect for creating those fluorescent lined eyes that the likes of Lily Allen have been sporting recently and gives you a far greater range of colour options than the stock brown and black eyeliners that most make-up counters offer.

In short, a true make-up miracle.

Originally posted at Teentoday

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