Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes mascara in 'Intense Black'

I don't like to go too in-depth in Glossy Boxes as it ends up being the entire blogging world reviewing the same products .. however I felt it would be a general waste of products to not at least review a couple. I was interested in the Fairy Lashes mascara from Jelly Pong Pong, purely because its their first ever. I've only ever tried products from this small cosmetics company through various Glossy Boxes, and to be honest i've never been too thrilled about them so didn't have very high hopes for this product.

It's described as a mascara 'not for the faint-hearted' and claims to make lashes thicker, curvier whilst maintaining softness. Hmm, we'll see..

Don't you agree that the packaging is just a tad too big for the product? It looks more like perfume packaging?

 

When I first used the product, I thought the wand was broken! I then thought it may be designed that way for convinience .. but as I look at other reviews it seems to be that my mascara may just have a wonky wand? Either way, it didn't help at all. I found the overall quality of brush to be very low and it didn't distribute the product very well. I found it was very difficult to apply the product in the corners and on my bottom lashes. 

First of all I want to apologise for this picture. My eyebrows need to be sorted desperately and I was testing a terrible liquid eyeliner which explains how horrible it looks! However, as you can see, the mascara makes next to no difference - especially against eyeliner. I found my lashes felt spindly and thin, and it made it look like I had less lashes? 

Throughout the day the product began to wear off, and what was left was very difficult to remove. It almost felt like my lashes were going to snap off, so I wouldn't use this product for this reason alone. Its designed to be water resistant, which I could completely believe, but that hasn't widened the appeal in the slightest. For £15, I am shocked that this product even made it into the boxes. There is no intensity, no volume, minimal curl and the removal makes you regret even putting it on in the first place.

You can purchase Jelly Pong Pong's Fairy Lashes mascara from their website here.

Bourjois Paris BB Bronzing Cream

Being a pale person, any products that contain the words 'bronzing' or 'tanning' scare me. The last thing i'd want to be is someone with a brown face and white body or look like i've rubbed a melted bar of milk chocolate onto my face. Yes I know that may sound stupid, but for someone that has little to no colour to them at all even the slightest bit makes a massive difference.

I'd been hoping to try a BB cream for a while, purely because I was curious what all the fuss was about and missed the initial 'hype' surrounding it. However, when I came across the BB Bronzing Cream from Bourjois on one of my regular Boots browses, I was intrigued. Not only did it claim to possess the qualities one would expect from a BB cream, it also incorporated a bronzer that was allegedly a 'universal shade'.

Looking at the swatched product before blending, there would be no way that anyone would believe that they could match my skin tone. As you can see from the blended swatch, there is a slight bronze that looks more like I just decided to swatch a foundation two shades darker than my match.

As you can see, there's next to no colour difference at all. There is an ever-so-slight tinge of colour that is so slight you can't tell the difference on camera. Bronzing aside, as a BB cream it has a lot more promise. It provides natural coverage, tones down the redness on my cheeks and nose, and makes my skin appear brighter. The only negative I will say is that although it does claim to be moisturising, I found it quite hard to apply and create an even coverage without the aid of a primer - it was quite dry. It doesn't quite provide 16-hour moisturisation; I found that throughout the day I needed to reapply as my skin started to dry out.
For £6.99 its pretty good value for what it does, but it's certainly not as versatile as it claims to be.

Overall it's pretty mediocre. It has more promise as a BB cream, but in future I think i'll stick with bronzing powder and some light contouring if I fancy a bit of colour.

You can purchase Bourjois Paris BB Bronzing Cream from your local Boots for £6.99 (RRP: £9.99)

Models Own Artstix Nail Polish Duo in 'Jade Flakes'

First of all, let me apologise for the lack of posts recently. University is starting to wind down so i'm finishing off final assignments and ensuring everything is done for when I eventually move back home for the summer. As well as this, i've suffered from quite bad skin due to stress these past few weeks, so i've refrained from taking photos as i'm just not feeling really comfortable with the way i'm looking right now. But anyway, pity party over!

As a student (And as a girl in general), I love a bargain. What I also love are products that provide combinations, making it a full-proof way of ensuring you get it right every time. The Artstix Nail Polish Duo from Models Own is one of those products! They've jumped on the 'double-ended polish' bandwagon, which sees a base coat paired with either a polish with a nail-art brush or a nail effect top coat.

'Jade Flakes' is just one of eight combinations from Models Own, but with the inclusion of 'Snowflakes' from the Wonderland Collection it quickly became a must-have.

(I am well aware that my nail painting skills are not great!)

For £6 this product is ideal for someone looking to explore new shades without breaking the bank, as fullsized bottles of these two polishes alone cost £5 each. However, when using a glitter top coat its easy to end up using a lot of product just trying to get the desired effect seen on the bottle. With its large flakes, I ended up having to use three coats on each nail, resulting in a quarter of the bottle being used in one application. The top coat also has an extremely thick consistency, meaning that because of the layering (And I tried to thin it as much as possible without losing the flakes) it began to chip straight away and created bubbles on the surface of the nail which ruined the overall effect!

Overall it's a gorgeous combination and I had no problems with the application or the coverage of the 'Jade Stone' polish. However, the inclusion of the top coat meant that the polish latest just over 24 hours. I'm open to trying different Artstix as every one is different, however I feel i'm more likely to just use the base coat in the future as the top coat is extremely disappointing.

You can purchase Artstix Nail Polish Duos from your local Boots, or online here for £6.