♡ ♡ Review; Balance Me. Wonder Eye Cream ♡ ♡

Balance Me. Extra Care Wonder Eye Cream £14 for 10ml // £20 for 15ml

I got this free with Glamour magazine I believe last month and didn't really expect to think much of it. I was pleased to have it as I needed a new eye cream but I didn't expect it to be any good.

I have to admit, I was proven wrong. Balance Me. in general seem like a really interesting brand and I would love to try more of their range as natural products always intrigue me.

The Balance Me. Wonder Eye Cream is of 99% natural origin which is always a plus for me. I feel like I'm being a lot kinder to my skin, although I necessarily may not be, I just prefer to use natural products if I can. 

Balance Me. target this cream for "soothing, brightening and lifting" and say it "helps to revitalize and smooth away dark shadows and reduce the appearance of fine lines" and is for all skin types. I have normal/combo skin and don't really suffer with any skin problems around my eye area apart from them being dark and very dis-coloured and occasionally a little dehydrated. 

This eye cream does exactly what it says on the tube (and more) which is so refreshing (I apply a small amount to lid, under eye area and surrounding area of the eye). This eye cream is definitely soothing and brightening and has visibly reduced the darkness under my eyes and the surrounding discoloration. I was so pleasantly surprised when I noticed how much brighter the under area of my eye looked. It also helps to smooth the area whilst keeping it hydrated. Of course this is no permanent fix to dark circles and I'm sure nothing could be, but for the time I am using this product it is doing a very good job at reducing their appearance. I'm not too sure about it reducing the appearance of fine lines as I don't really have many being almost 17 but I do find it to be lifting and soothing and my general eye area just looks a little bit nicer when I'm using this. I wish I could of done a before and after of my dark circles to show you how it's worked but like I said I didn't really expect it to work wonders at all. I guess it's called the 'Wonder Eye Cream' for a reason. 

I'm going to be very sad when this runs out but I will definitely be repurchasing after I have tried the Origins GinZing eye cream. I think £14 for 10ml is a very reasonable price as I can see visible improvements with this eye cream and I would love to try more of the Balance Me. range.

What are your opinions of the eye cream/Balance Me.?

'Til Next Time,

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☼ Review; E.l.f Mineral Eyelid Primer (+ Urban Decay Comparison) ☼

E.l.f Mineral Eyeshadow Primer ~ £3.00 @ eyeslipsface.co.uk

E.l.f say "This gentle and completely sheer Eyeshadow Primer has key vitamins A, C and E to help prevent aging and moisturizes the skin. The formula glides on easily and disappears instantly to create longer-lasting, crease-proof eyeshadow. The Mineral Eyeshadow Primer is designed to be used with your favorite mineral eyeshadow to provide ultimate staying power for beautiful and vibrant color that lasts. 100% mineral based with no parabens, no preservatives and no chemical dyes."

I'm not too sure about the 'key vitamins' and the whole 'prevent ageing' as I have seen no effects  of this and didn't really expect it from an eyeshadow primer but I do think that it does have a moisturizing feel on the lid of the eye. The texture is smooth, feels a bit like it contains silicon so  it smooths and evens out the lid, and blends effortlessly. The product itself is light and does glide on easily and disappears instantly. 

I think that this primer is almost as good as the infamous 'Urban Decay Primer Potion' - minus the price tag. I think it holds on the shadow and prevents them from creasing in the same way the urban decay primer does. Although, this primer does not make the eyeshadows any more vibrant, like the Urban Decay one, which is a little negative for me. My shadows do still crease with this primer, but only slightly, which I expect as they do with any of the eye primers I have tried *sigh*. 
I definitely recommend you try this out if you are debating whether to try the Urban Decay Primer Potion as it is similar, if you only need a primer to keep your  eye-shadow on for longer or you're a eye-shadow primer newbie, this is a great one to try for a very reasonable price.
I don't quite think it is as good as the Urban Decay Primer Potion, just because it doesn't add any vibrancy to the shadows but for the price this is a very impressive product.
 I would 100% buy again and recommend to you all.

Have you tried any of the E.l.f primers?
 Has anyone tried/reviewed the Too Faced Shadow Insurance? I'd love to give that one a try!

'Til Next Time,
Carys xox



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❀ ❀ Review; Collection 2000 Lasting Colour Gel Liner ❀ ❀

I was so excited when I saw that Collection 2000 were doing gel liners. Gel liners have been hugely popular in the blogging/beauty world and a staple for me ever since I first used one. This time last year they were more or less only available from higher end brands like MAC, Bobbi Brown etc. but since the release of the Maybelline gel liner many other high-street brands have followed, Collection 2000 being the cheapest to my knowledge. I know MUA are releasing some soon so I'd love to pick some of those up and do a comparison post as I believe they are cheaper.

I bought the liner in the shade "teal" as I already have a MAC Fluid line in dip-down (a deep, brown) and I fancied something a bit more exciting than the average black/brown and this colour screamed summer to me. 

The Collection 2000 Lasting Colour Gel Liners come in 4 colours - Brown, Black, Teal and Gold which I think is a pretty good range for the high-street although a purple would be nice hint. They retail at £4.99 (Bargain right?) and can be found at most stores that stock cosmetics, the most popular being Boots and Superdrug. 

I love how Collection 2000 have included a little "how to guide" on creating the perfect look with the product on the back of the packaging. A nice touch for someone who's a gel liner newbie. They also have included a little brush, pictured below, which I also think is a nice touch again for someone who's a gel liner newbie and may not have a brush. I didn't find much use for the brush as I found it applied the liner too thickly (I use the elf angled liner brush to apply!) but it's pretty handy for smudging the product on the lower lash line which is how I've been wearing this product this along with the infamous cat eye flick. 

 As you can see the packaging is pretty basic. A little glass jar with a little black lid. Not very impressive but it's about the product not the packaging right?

Pictured without flash

Pictured with flash

 The colour of this product is beautiful. A bright teal with a subtle sheen. So impressed with the colour and the pigmentation. Looks exactly how it does on the eye as it does in the jar!

Collection 2000 say... "these intense colour pigment pots will give up to 12 hours lasting wear, for a glossy finish to your essential eyeliner look."

Swatched once in natural light

I agree with the intense pigmentation but not so much the glossy finish. The product looks rather matte on my eyes but the subtle shimmer does give it a slight sheen. This product does last amazingly on my eyes, I was most impressed with the staying power which I thought was very comparable to my MAC fluid-line. Maybe not 12 hour wear but no liner stays for that amount of time on my watery eyes. 

The texture of this product is very surprising for a gel liner. Most are smooth and soft but this one seems to be quite hard and more like a tough cream eye-shadow which can make the product harder to load onto the brush and does make for a less smooth application. Although, I do think that it's odd texture is a plus as it can be worn as a very long lasting cream shadow (I've tried and it applies very nicely and stays like nobody's business) and I feel the texture aids the product in staying so long on the eye. 

All in all I love this gel liner. No worse than my MAC fluid-line (the only difference is the texture) so I am very impressed for the £4.99 price tag. I will definitely be picking up more of these in the future. Maybe the gold? Maybe the brown?

Have you tried these out yet? Will you be picking any up? Are you a fan of gel-liner?

'Til Next Time, 

Carys xox

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Halloween "Scary Eyes" Nails! + Tutorial

I couldn't sleep Friday night so I decided to do something fun/new/interesting with my nails! I saw a design very similar to the one above on Tumblr, and thought it looked pretty simple and decided to try it out :-) I am very pleased with the results and I have received many compliments on them, it was quick and easy to create also! :-)

• Apply a base-coat to you nails, I used No.7's "So Smooth" Base-coat. This will protect your nails from any damage from the nail polish.
• Apply an opaque coat of white nail polish to all of your nails. I used Natural Collection's "Nail Tip Whitener".
• With the brush/applicator of any nail polish that is an appropriate colour for an eye, and dab it into the centre of the nail. This should create the larger circle, or "iris", of the design. I used No.7's "Stay Perfect" nail polish in "320 - Minty Fresh".
• Then using the tip of a bobby pin or hair slide, dip it into a dark coloured nail polish, preferably black, and dab it into the centre of the larger circle you previously created. This will be the pupil of the eye. I used Barry M Nail Polish in "292 - Navy".
• Then get a tooth pick and dip it into the same white nail polish that you used as a base, and place it on the right, or left, side of the "pupil" or the small, darker circle you just created. This will make the eye stand out and look more realistic. 
• Then use another tooth pick and dip it into a red shade of nail polish. Create lines that flick out at the ends, rather like branches on a tree, around the eye until satisfied, I did it 5/6 times. This will act as the blood vessels surrounding the eye, and make the eye seem more "scary". I used Collection 2000's "Hot Looks" Nail Polish in "28 - Hip Hop". 
• If you want to make your nails look more detailed then use a peachy colour and place that, with a tooth pick, alongside the red colour you applied beforehand. This will add shading to the nails, and again make them look more detailed and realistic. I used Barry M Nail Polish in "318 - Peach Melba".
• Then apply your favourite top-coat. I used No.7's "Stay Perfect" Quick drying top-coat.
• Then you should have Halloween ready nails :-) 

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy nail tutorial and I'd love to hear if you wanted any more tutorials? Or any other requests, just leave them in the comments below! Thanks :-)



                    'Til next time,