Mascara collection!

from left to right

• Collection 2000 Colour Lash in clear • Natural Collection WaterGuard  • Soap & Glory Thick & Fast • 17 Maximum Volume •17 Waterproof • 17 Wild Curls • 17 Peep Show • Maybelline One by One Volum' Express •

Mascara, for me, is a product that can be perfect one week and hell the next, which is why I have so many types of mascara lurking around in my make up drawer. Like I mentioned in my June favourites post, my current favourite mascara is 17 Peep Show. I also use the Collection 2000 colour lash in clear on a fairly regular basis, as it adds more volume and definition (I know here the product doesn't look clear, but this is the consequence of using it in combination with liquid eyeliner).


As for the remaining six, they offer a range from natural to heavy cover. I would judge the heaviest to be Maybelline and Soap & Glory, mostly due to the wand/brush (or applicator, so many names to choose from!) shape allowing much more product to coat the lashes in one brush. I do find these two are both, however, more likely to clump, but if you're used to this sort of thing then it's not a problem.


I would recommend Natural Collection and the 17 Waterproof mascara to anyone looking for a lighter cover, as for both of these have slimmer brushes that leave a more natural coverage. I don't really get much chance to test exactly just how waterproof these are (as both claim to be), but the few times they've been put to the test, it wasn't a horrible outcome!


The 17 Maximising Volume mascara was my favourite before Peep Show was bought out, because I like how easy it is to layer with this brush, and adding more layers didn't make it impossible to get out of my lashes at the end of the day. Finally, the 17 Wild Curls mascara isn't one which I've tied yet, as I only bought it with a voucher I got from boots (it cost me £1, instead of it's usual £6.29) but I can't say I'm a huge fan of the plastic wand bristles, they look lethal!


I seem to have so many from the 17 collection! Let me know what your favourite mascara brands are? :)

n xx

Summer skin

• Johnson's holiday skin in fair to medium • Avon hair minimising lotion •

Every single summer, I am faced with the horror of the concept of having to go outside to "get tanned". It's not that I dislike the outdoors, but with skin as fair as mine (I practically reflect sunlight I'm so pale) it takes forever for anything to build up beyond freckles. Besides, living in England means that tanning naturally isn't the easiest thing to do.

So these are my summer saviors! I'm still fairly new onto the self-tanning scene, but while I do like the Johnson's holiday skin product, the smell is most definitely not the "subtle, fresh fragrance" that it claims to be on the label. It might just be me, but I find this smell pretty nasty if I'm honest. It is, however, one of the best products that I've found to not send me from pale to orange crayola overnight, which is why I've continued to use it. When used in the right quantities, a very nice tan can be built up. My search will most definitely continue for a better smelling product though.

This other product, by Avon, is one that I have been using for about a year now for hair growth decrease, and I'm happy to report the smell is 100% better. It's very faint and fresh, and definitely at least makes my skin softer. I disliked moisturising my legs for a while because I didn't want to get product all over what I was about to change into, but this is absorbed quickly, so is perfect for when I'm in a bit of a rush. It does also, of course, seem to minimilise hair growth on my legs, meaning that I have to shave them less often- ideal!

Please let me know if you have a suggestion to replace my Johnson's self-tan lotion!

n xx

June survival make up!

clockwise from top

• Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation • 17 Peep Show mascara • The Body Shop lip gloss • Benefit "that gal" face primer •

I have just finished my second year of A-levels, and the wonderful May/June period of intense revising that comes with it, so there are several products that I definitely could not have survived without through these few months!


Since getting my lovely little Benefit freebie with this months copy of Glamour magazine, I have become a firm fan of the "that gal" brightening face primer. Since I haven't been using foundation until recently, I haven't really bothered with any primer, but I love using this. The smell is neither nice or horrid, but the product is a cute shade of pink, and I find the packaging adorable. I've been using this alongside my Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation, which I use in the shade 100 Ivory. I couldn't be more surprised that I have actually totally fallen in love with this product. It gives a nice cover which is easy to build up, and there's a really cute addition of a slight amount of glitter which I adore, particularly in the sunlight.


Another product that I could not have been without through my exams was my Body Shop lip gloss- "high shine lip treatment". Annoyingly, I've never been able to find details of shades on the actual products in this lip gloss line, but the one I have was originally a magazine freebie from a few years ago that I love. I was originally a little reluctant to buy new tubes, as it costs £9, but happily it does last quite a long while. The shade that I have is a little darker than my natural lip colour with a sparkle, and I have never been disappointed with it seeming it stay on for around 5 minutes before vanishing. It is probably the longest lasting lip gloss I own, and I can guarantee that the Body Shop have a loyal customer in me while they continue to sell this.


The final thing I depended on through revision and exams was my 17 mascara Peep Show, which apparently has "lengthening fibres". I tend to avoid those sorts of mascara, as I already have fairly long lashes. I'm wary of wearing the wrong amount of mascara because of the length of my lashes, but this product has proved my logic to be highly unfounded. For me, it has hardly ever clumped, and I can happily layer it up without it sticking my lashes together very much.


I can happily recommend any of these products, let me know what you think of them :)

n xx

My make up case

• a selection of things in my make up case • my make up case •

I thought that a good way to start things off would be to talk about the make up that I'm currently using. I started using make up about 4 or 5 years ago, but it wasn't until I was almost 17 that I particularly started to explore into different brands and types of make up that I could use. For a long while, I was an extreme lover of Natural Collection and Collection 2000, and while I do still use some of their products, I have begun to branch out a lot!


My day-to-day make up varies quite a lot depending on what mood I'm in and what I'm doing, but I do tend to stick to the same sort of products.


Although many people stay away from cheaper brands that you can find in Boots or Superdrug (or places equivalent to this outside the UK), I have often found a few things to be of very good quality for their price. I've always been a little reluctant to spent money on more expensive make up because of the rate at which it can be used up, so I have explored many (many, many) cheaper products in an attempt to keep me from buying things that I can't afford too often.


I manage to cram quite a lot into my make up case all at one time, so I'm going to write about what I use in face, eye and lip make up, and various other beauty products. I hope you enjoy!

n xx

Just a little introduction...

Hi! I'm Nikki, an 18 year old student living in Norfolk, England, and I have a particlar interest in fashion and beauty. I decided to start a blog to share these interests with people- I love to read what other people think of products and I wanted to give something back to what I read so much of. I don't really know what to write here because I'm not very good at introductions, but thank you for reading my blog if you're here, I hope you enjoy it :)


I hope to update this blog fairly regularly with things about my views on (starting with mostly high street) beauty products, not necessarily to state whether it's a bad product or not, but whether I liked it and would use it again!


I'm not especially good with technology but I hope to get more familiar with this particular site as I get to use it more- please excuse mistakes that are bound to appear until then :)


If you fancy finding me on other websites, here are some links-

Tumblr ~ Flickr ~ Twitter

n xx