First Impressions: Benefit's Roller Lash Mascara

I'm baaaack *insert creepy music here* Being a teacher has taken most of my free time lately, but I have missed my blog so much and have been constantly making mental lists of products I want to write about. Now that it is holiday time, I have decided to come back with a first impression on benefit's roller lash mascara.

I have been wanting to try this mascara out for the longest time because every review I have read on it is amazing. The main draw-card for this mascara is its curling ability, however others have raved about its lengthening and volumizing powers too. Apparently it is a great all-rounder, and who can say no to a mascara that does it all? Not me, clearly!

One of the things that I really like about benefit is that they sell their full-sized products in smaller, more affordable "mini" versions, and being the budget-conscious beauty that I am, I went for the small tube. It is R145 for 4g, whereas the full-sized version is just under R300 for 8g, so price-wise it made sense to go for the smaller one. Plus I don't usually finish a tube of mascara within the 6 month expiry limit in any case. 

The mini mascara has the same pink, rubberized lid as its full-sized counterpart, and the bristles on the brush are the same as well. The only difference is the size of the tube. The lid is really cute and resembles a pink hair roller. The brush is curved with longer bristles on the convex part, and shorter bristles on the concave part. There are also apparently hooks that grab onto your lashes to ensure that they curl sufficiently, however I could not see these!

There is some skill in applying the mascara - you are supposed to start with the longer bristles on your lashes, then roll the brush as you pull up so that you end up with the shorter bristles on the tips of your lashes. I did try this technique, but it was a little tricky at first, and I ended up getting quite a bit of mascara on my eyelid.

Left: Three coats. Right: Zero coats

Now for the verdict! In terms of curling, it did a great job. My lashes are separated, yet long, curled and volumized. The curl stays all day, and the colour is a good, strong black. There is zero smudging or flaking. All in all, I have nothing negative to say about it BUT I still feel a little disappointed. I guess with all the reviews I had watched on it, and all the hype surrounding it, I was expecting it to really WOW me, but it didn't. Yes, it is a really great mascara, and no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I think I just wished that it made my eyelashes look like this

I also made my first video on YouTube, so you can head on over to watch that here (or below!) and let me know what you think! Please subscribe if you like what you see, and follow me to make sure you don't miss out on a post!

Elf Cosmetics NOT coming to South Africa!

In the latter part of last year, we were given some of the best news to date in the beauty world - elf cosmetics was launching in South Africa!

Beauty blogs went wild with the news, and thousands of us clambered to follow Elf Cosmetics South Africa on their multiple social media accounts. Photos of the cosmetics that we have been lusting over were splashed over their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. We liked, we commented, and more importantly, we got pumped up for what promised to be the launch of the year. They even held a competition that said you could win a year's supply of Elf cosmetics if you followed them on all their accounts by 31 January 2016.
That should have been the first clue that something was off. Firstly, to win a year's supply of cosmetics is a massive prize. Secondly, how were they controlling how they knew you were following them on all platforms? Usernames are different, so there is no way of knowing unless you use something like Rafflecopter. Another clue that something was off is that their website's address is eyeslipsface.co.za (elf stands for eyes lips face), however the real American and UK website address is elfcosmetics.com - surely the continuity would be kept, and the address would have been elfcosmetics.co.za? And finally, would a huge cosmetics company mess up basic spelling in images they post, like this:

Then, all of the social media accounts VANISHED! I was following on all accounts, then remembered that I hadn't seen anything about the launch for a while, so I went to check up what their latest posts had been. Imagine my horror when I couldn't find anything! Not a single scrap of evidence that they had ever existed. Even the website is gone. I searched their handle on twitter and found that I was not alone in wondering what had happened. I contacted the Head Office to find out if they could give me some clarity, but I have not heard from them yet. As far as I am concerned, either someone was pulling a nasty prank on us, or something went wrong with the launch in South Africa and Elf Cosmetics had to pull out, but I am leaning more towards this being a prank based on some of the suspicious activities. Either way, there are now a ton of disappointed beauty fans who were so looking forward to the launch of an affordable brand with great quality.

Liar, liar, pants on fire

Ok, so I might have lied (unintentionally of course!) when I said that now my exams are over, I will be doing more regular posts. Truth is, I completely underestimated the amount of time that would be spent doing my teaching practical while working. Completely underestimated. For me now, all waking minutes are spent filling in assignments and preparing lessons for my students. I wake up at 6am, go to school until 1pm, go to work until 6pm, then come home and work on assignments until 9pm when I go to sleep. Weekends are spent creating lesson plans and doing even more assignments.
I have been working so hard that I haven't even had the chance to think about makeup, let alone wear any! I am seriously missing my blogging, and as soon as school holidays start and I am back to working normal hours for a bit, I promise to be back with you for regular posts. That is until school reopens!
Until then...

Clarins Everlasting Compact Foundation review

Yes folks, I am still alive *halleluja*, I have just been busy with exams and work so cannot pump out the posts like before, but my final exam is on Tuesday so after that you will see a bit more of me. Clarins is my ultimate luxury brand of choice, and last month I made a little Clarins haul video (still have to edit though) of all my spoils that I bought!

Clarins Everlasting Compact Foundation

The first thing up for review is the one I was most excited about - the Everlasting Compact Foundation. I am a sucker for powder foundation ever since I got the Palladio one, and I couldn't wait to smush this all over my face!

Clarins Everlasting Compact Foundation

It comes in the most gorgeous red velvet bag, and the container itself is metallic gold. I LOVE how luxurious and decadent it looks and feels! It comes with a sponge applicator and a mirror inside, and can be applied dry or wet, depending on what sort of coverage you want. It is also SPF 15 which is a plus! The colour I got was 107 Beige, which I hate to admit is just the teensiest too dark for me, especially now we are heading into winter. I love the coverage though, and have only used it dry because I don't feel that I need any more coverage than that. It retails for R435 for 10g - a bit pricey (especially for budget me!) but I love a good spoil every now and then, and this is worth it! Info from the Clarins website: Active ingredients

• The High-Fidelity System - ensures a perfectly even complexion and stay-true, radiant colour for 15 hours of beautiful wear.
• The Vegetal Micro-Patch - A Clarins exclusive. Delivers continuous hydration that keeps skin supple and comfortable all day. New generation, powder-foundation texture glides on with a silky touch. Blends beautifully with all skin types.
• Exclusive 'Light Optimizing Complex' - Captures, diffuses and boosts ambient light - deflecting the attention away from the wrinkles, fine lines and impurfections while infusing your skin with non-stop radiance.
• Triple Protection - Anti-free radical, anti-pollution, anti-UVA/UVB sun filters and SPF 15 shield the skin from modern day aggressions.

I will slowly put up reviews of all the other Clarins products I bought, and hopefully get around to editing my video so you can see everything I got!

essence colour intensifying base review

From the first brush stroke, I knew I was in love. Nothing beats crisp, white nails, and I am so happy that this shade from essence  (33 wild white ways) has made its way into my collection!

But besides the awesomeness that is pure white nails, when used as a base it is fantastic at making colours POP! I tried it with a light nude colour (26 dare it nude) and a dark purple colour (43 where is the party?), and it worked really well with both. With just one coat of colour, the coverage was great, and the colour compared to no base was really bright. You can see that the right nail has the base, and the left nail does not.

This polish will be a staple for me for sure!