Maxfactor Colour Elixir Giant Pen Stick in 'Subtle Coral'

Let's get serious - we're all partial to taking shortcuts, especially when it comes to make up. With that in mind, the new Colour Elixir Giant Pen Sticks from Maxfactor were naturally on the top of my 'to try' list. Claiming to eliminate the need for a lip liner due to its sculpted lip and strong pigmentation, the chunky pencil has a smooth 'glide on' effect which enables quick application without having to go over the lip repeatedly.

 

'Subtle Coral' is a gorgeous creamy coral, potentially the most effortless out of the six shades. When I try out new products and formulas, I tend to gravitate to safer shades (A habit I need to break, I know!) making this a perfect shade for me. This product is a little strange at first glance because the product has the same texture as lipstick, but it must be sharpened like an eyeliner pencil .. odd. 

 

 First of all, i'm sorry for the bad quality of the photo, my camera doesn't take close-up's very well so i'm relying on zooming in which hinders the overall quality. However, you can clearly see that the end result is a lot stronger than first anticipated. It was certainly a lot easier to apply due to its sculpted lip, however I would still prefer to use a lip liner for an even stronger pigmentation (But that's just a personal thing!).

I'm not too big of a fan of the idea of having to sharpen it, I much prefer the mechanical pens that distribute product with a twist or a click, as when I went to sharpen it after first application the nib completely snapped off because of it's soft lipstick-like texture. 

Overall I love the end result, its understated yet perfect for pulling together a natural, every day makeup look. I found my lips needed minimal touch-ups and being able to refine them easily gave the illusion that my lips were a lot bigger than they are - added bonus! I will certainly use this again but with the idea of practicality in mind when creating something that could double as a liner, you would think Maxfactor would also introduce a function that's slightly more advanced and convenient than having to physically sharpen. I'm looking forward to trying stronger, more daring colours - I just need to invest in a decent sharpener and be a bit more careful! 

You can purchase Maxfactor Colour Elixir Giant Pen Stick's for £6.99 at your local Maxfactor counter.

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)