DIY makeup brush holder

My friends think I am the most un-creative person on the planet, today I think I proved them wrong. Let me introduce you to my new brush holder…

This is what it looks like without brushes...



... and the other side

Let me explain. The pink cup is meant to be a pencil holder but it’s huge and it doesn’t match anything else on my desk. So, I decided to put all my brushes in it and put it on my chest on drawers. The problem was, I  thought it looked a bit plain. As I was thinking this, I glanced over at my overflowing-earring box and I had an epiphany. I decided to attach all my earrings through the holes in the cup. Of course, they didn’t all fit, but most of them did and I am so happy with the result! I am even considering buying some cheap earrings from Primark just to decorate it. A nice brush holder would have cost loads but I made my own for virtually nothing (the cup came free with my magazine holders and most of the earrings were presents).

Please leave a comment if you have any good DIY bedroom decorations!

Lovely Lip Balms

Hurraw lip balms have fast become my favourite lip product ever. I had the grapefruit one for my birthday and I have fallen in love. I was browsing the website looking for more flavours (yes I love them that much) and found out they were about £2.50, PLUS SHIPPING. Although they are lovely I’m not paying that for a lip balm that’s no bigger than my little finger.

So that got me thinking, what lip balms do I like that don’t cost as much. I love the Nivea one (you know the blue one that everyone’s got) it’s really moisturising when I have chapped lips but it doesn’t have a very nice smell. The smell’s not bad but it’s not the sort of thing you would hand to your friend and say “Here, smell this”.

Another brilliant lip balm is actually Vaseline. My favourite is the pink one (I’m not too sure of the exact flavour) and they’re quite cheap considering those little round tins last for ages. The only problem with Vaseline is that it melts easily. It’s ok if you’re at home; you can just stick it in the fridge for a bit. But, if you’re on holiday like I was when mine melted, you might not have that option.

My other all time favourite lip balm in the ‘I love…’ one in the flavour Mango and Papaya. My pot has lasted for ages, I got it from Ethel Austin and that closed down ages ago. I think they now sell them in TK-Max but I’m sure if you did a bit of web surfing you could easily find them online. This lip balm, as I said, lasts for ages, I’m still not half way through the pot and it was super cheap! It smells lovely and is quite moisturizing.

So they’re my favourite cheap lip balms, I’m still gutted about the Hurraw ones being so expensive but I have realised there is lots of cheap alternatives!

Hope you enjoyed reading, please leave us a request in the comments!

Review: Telescopic Explosion Mascara L’ORÉAL

Today’s post is a little review of my favourite mascara. It’s the Telescopic Explosion Mascara by L’ORÉAL. I purchased this mascara a couple of months back and since then I have used it again and again. It’s nearly run out and if they still make it, I will defiantly be re-purchasing.

Before I start rambling on about the actual product, I thought I’d just mention the packaging. It’s red and black and looks, kind of sleek. It’s the perfect size and thickness and I have to say, I think it looks rather posh ;)

The thing that makes this mascara so brilliant is the wand, it’s a sphere! This is really unusual (obviously) so at first I was a little sceptical. But once I had done one eye with this I was hooked. The application does take a bit of getting used to as you have to do one lash at a time (yawn) but you get faster once you’ve used it a few times.

As far as consistency goes this mascara is pretty good. You don’t need a zillion coats for it to have its best affect, maybe two or three? And I have found it doesn’t come off that easily during the day, unless it rains because it’s not waterproof, sadly.

The only problem I have with this product is that it clumps a lot. It’s really annoying when you’re in a rush and you just want to quickly go over your lashes. To solve the problem I use a coat of another mascara (a Hannorah one if you’re interested!) and this get’s rid of the clumps. My other mascara is also waterproof so when you have both on together it doesn’t run as much in the rain.

The price is a bit steep, I think mine was around £11.99 from boots, which is more than I would normally pay for a mascara. Is it worth the extra money? I would say yes it is, but I would love to find a cheaper one that’s just as good.

As I said before, I’m not sure if this mascara has been dis-continued or not, as it isn’t on the boots website or in my local store. However, you may be able to find a similar one from L’ORÉAL (maybe they’ve just changed the name) at www.boots.com.

Ease of use: * * *

Quality: * * * *

Packaging: * * * *

Wand: * * * *

Price: * * (although I think it’s worth it)

Overall: * * * *

((We know our blog has been a bit all over the place lately, we're just trying to find the perfect design and text colour, please bear with us!))

Dry Shampoo...

Dry shampoo is one of the best inventions ever. When you don't have time to wash your hair, or wake up half an hour late and suddenly look like you've just been swimming, it's a quick and easy solution.

Two of the best Dry Shampoos are Batiste and TRESemme. I have Batiste Original and it makes my hair look like it was washed just 24 hours ago. The Original version doesn't have a refreshing smell, but it's a great quick fix. I have never tried the TREsemme one but it is rated as one of the best and although doesn't have a great smell is said to really add volume to your hair.

The Batiste Original 200ml can be bought for £2.99 and lasts a very long time! The TREseeme 200ml costs £4.79 which is more expensive, but several reviews quote it as "better than Batiste"

In conclusion, i think that the Batiste dry shampoo is perfect on a budget as it cleans your hair and takes less than ten minutes to apply and brush out. I personnally prefer this to TREsemme as although this has a better smell, it is much more expensive for the same size, same quality bottle.

Too good to be true?

A few months a go I ‘invested’ in a Natural Collection body spray from boots. At first I was a little sceptical, £2 for a 150ml body spray just seemed too good to be true. I thought it was going to be very watery with a weak smell.

How wrong was I? This body spray is brilliant! I have Wild Strawberry at the moment but I will defiantly be trying the other flavours. The smell is very intense, I even use it to freshen up my bedroom when my brothers been in it!  

The packaging is simple but there’s nothing wrong with it and the actual spray itself is hot pink, perfect! It doesn’t look out of place on my dressing table and it’s competing with the likes of Hollister and Soap and Glory.

Speaking of Hollister, I would defiantly prefer to save myself at least £10 and buy this body spray than fork out for the likes of Hollister. To be honest, there is hardly any difference in quality and even though the Hollister one is bigger, it’s defiantly not worth the extra money.

Another good thing about this product is all the different flavours, as well as the one I have there is; Vanilla, Sea Minerals, Apple and Lime and many more. I might have to buy them all to complete my collection…

Overall I would give this product 9/10 because it smells wonderful, it looks lovely on any dressing table and it’s most defiantly brilliant on a budget!

Are designer shoes old news?

If your towns anything like ours it will have gone trainer shoe crazy! Vans, Converse, Doc Martins, Hunters, but are they really worth the hype?

Aimee

I recently purchased a pair of black vans from the Vans shop. I have been wanting a pair of Vans for ages and it was definitely worth the wait! They’re so comfy and I can wear them with pretty much anything. I would have preferred a brighter colour, such as red, but the black ones really do go with most outfits and can be worn in all weathers. They don’t look similar to “those £2 ones from Primark” as my dad puts it, and they’re way more comfy. They were definitely worth the £45.

Aimee's vans

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Sarah

I love converse. There is no two ways about it; they are my all time favourite shoes. I had a new pair for my birthday and I haven’t taken them off since. They are so comfy, go with everything and look nice. When I saw the ones I wanted were £40 I was unsure but I can safely say they are worth the money. I also want some Vans (I’m rather jealous of Aimee’s) maybe some pink ones… As for Doc Martins I can never decide whether I like them or not. I think I like the white ones and the cherry red ones but I’m not sure about the other colours. On a side note, I also LOVE Hunter wellys but I have told myself they’re just normal wellys with a label on and have persuaded myself against buying some (sadly).



Sarah's converse



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So, to conclude, we have decided we love Vans and Converse because they’re practical, go with everything, comfy and are worth the little bit extra. As for the other shoe crazes we’re not too sure…

Jeans jeans jeans

 There’s nothing quite like a good pair of jeans. We both recently bought new pairs of the wonderful items…

Aimee

I bought a pair of black jeans at the weekend from New Look. I thought they were £10… which is why I bought them. They were £15. My other jeans were too big but these are perfect. However, stuff sticks to them like dog hair and fluff (cough sarahs dog cough).

Sarah

My new jeans were actually a birthday present but my mother doesn’t understand the labels in Topshop so she gave me the money to buy them. They are bright blue ankle grazers, as I said before they are from Topshop, and they are the Leigh style. They were £40 which is not really a budget price but they were a birthday present so please let me off… I am really pleased with them and I love the turn ups at the bottoms because old people, who don’t know what ankle grazers are, just think you’ve turned your jeans up.