The Samples

I know i'm late to the party for most of these, but I'm always reluctant to buy things when they are being hyped up because it's more difficult to realise whether I genuinely like the product, or like it because everyone is telling me it's great.

Lets start with Benefits Porefessional. I use this on the areas where my pores are at their worst. It makes a smoother base without letting my make up slip away. I also love the packaging, it's cute. I never really used to wear a primer, when I first really got into makeup I used a cheaper one from Rimmel I think which would make the base look great for about 2 hours and then disappear, I think this kind of started a reluctance to use any other types. This has also lasted me so long even though it's a really small pot, I mean like weeks. Not only have I fallen in love with this, the area I live don't really have anywhere close by to buy higher branded makeup, but our boots has finally started to stock it, so my bank is going to start hating me.

The second Benefit product is the they're real mascara, I really like this for coverage on the lashes and it adds a lot of volume, but I do not love the heaviness. I have really long lashes so keeping them up and curled is quite difficult, and this just seems to weigh them down. I wanted to like this but it just doesn't work well with me.

Finally is the Lights Camera Lashes mascara from Tarte. This was another one that I always wanted to try but always forgot to buy. To be completely honest, I do prefer the Benefit mascara because this one was too much for me, I found it quite difficult to get my eyelashes to look how I wanted them too, I'm not sure why but I just did not get along with this. If you have shorter and thinner eyelashes I think this would work perfectly, giving length and volume, however it is quite thick.

Work Those Lashes

Eyelashes are my most annoying makeup problems. I struggle to find a way to keep my eyelashes curved all day and a mascara that I have fallen in love with. I have found a way to encourage the curve to open up my eyes throughout the majority of the day so here are 3 tips to keeping up those eyelashes;

1. Use eyelash curlers more than once. I like to use them first, do all of my make up, curl them again and then a 3rd time. This will make them look really weird but after 5 minutes they just look open and wide eyed. I've found this technique to be really effective and I have no problem with my eyelashes staying open. I've also heard that if you heat up the eyelash curlers slightly to begin with, it's meant to work like curling tongs and hold them open, but when you wake up at about 7 in the morning, I can't ever be bothered to wait for them to heat up.

2. Use a lightweight mascara or a waterproof mascara to lock it in and not weigh it down. On an everyday basis, I like to use Rimmel Scandaleyes show off mascara because it's lightweight and it's easy to just coat your lashes once and they have a natural finish alongside separating the eyelashes as well as darkening them. When I'm going out, I like to use Maybelline the Falsies waterproof mascara because it's just a little more heavy duty and makes the lashes look extra special.

3. When curling your lashes, tilt the curlers towards the lid of the eye. I find that this just adds a little lift and curl, it also contributes to making the lashes curved for longer.

Review: Maybelline New York Big Eyes Mascara

I find that having long eyelashes can be a bit of a chore, with mascara being too heavy, after an hour the curl in them droops and they don't have the same brightness. This isn't my favourite mascara as I find that the part for the top lashes don't separate the lashes but tend to clump them together, and then they look uneven. However the bottom lash mascara separates and coats them evenly, maybe this is due to the smaller end but, even though it is made for the bottom lashes I tend to use it to put a second coat on the top lashes, it just keeps the eyelashes apart and keeps the mascara on them.