17 Make Your Mark Precision Liquid Eyeliner

17 Make Your Mark Precision Liquid Eyeliner in Blackest Black - £3.99

I felt that I could never rock the whole liquid liner look whilst wearing eyelash extensions as I didn't feel confident enough to apply it let alone wear it. So after ditching the extensions and growing my lashes (post coming soon!) I've finally felt confident enough to wear liquid liner and it's now becoming a staple in my make up routine. The eyeliner that I've been using for the past few weeks has been no other than the 17 Make Your Mark Precision Liquid Eyeliner in Blackest Black and as it's now coming to an end, I thought I would share my thoughts on it.

The 17 Make Your Mark Precision Liquid Eyeliner makes applying liquid liner a breeze even for a newbie like me which is probably down to its similarity to a felt tip pen with the same sort of nib. The formula of this is rather pigmented, waterproof and not dry like others. I find that this applies evenly when using and it doesn't transfer, fade or crumble away after applying it. The only downside I have to this is that the actual tip of the nib seems to dry out rather quickly so I'm having to store it standing upside down which has been working temporarily. Although saying that, I have noticed that it's not quite an intense black as it were when I first started using it which is a shame which has resulted in me starting a new eyeliner altogether. All in all, I do believe that this is a good starting point for those who are just branching out with liquid eyeliner like I am and would definitely recommend it if you're wanting something that's cheap and does the job.

Nivea Diamond Touch Shower Cream Oil

NIVEA DIAMOND TOUCH SHOWER CREAM OIL - £1.99

Shower gel is one of lifes' basic products which is up there with toothpaste, deodorant and socks where in most cases you pay for what you get. As I like to keep the basic essentials costs down and get things if possible when they're on special offer, the Nivea Diamond Touch Shower Cream Oil was definitely no exception especially when I got change back from £1 back in August last year.

The Nivea Diamond Touch Shower Cream Oil is a cream oil formula that creates a serious amount of rich, creamy foam which mixed with water which leaves the skin irrestibly soft and nourished. It is enriched with diamond shimmer which creates the appearance of glistening, healthy skin which is what I'm sure everybody is after. My personal favourite bit of this shower gel is not only the cost but the scent. It has extracts of white calla lily which smells so feminine and lingers on the skin hours after you've used it. It's definitely one of those products that has wowed me despite being so simple and I would definitely repurchase once I've gotten through my stock pile of shower gels which I have seemed to have accumulated quite a fair bit over the festive period.

Samples I've Used Up 007

I've had a little sample of the Mary Kay Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover hanging around for the longest time which I never seemed to bothered to use. That was until I started wearing liquid eyeliner teamed with stubborn waterproof mascara that I finally dug it out and started using it. This literally dissolved the bulk of my eye makeup and removed the majority of it within seconds which surprised me especially on my first use. I always associated Mary Kay with older women but after trying out this, I definitely won't mind splashing out the £13 for something that removes eye makeup so quickly.

For my birthday, I received the Unique Naturals Skin Serum Collection and I've since used up Nurture which is aimed towards dry skin. At first this smelt very strong and felt far too heavy for my skin but after using it a few times, I started to get used to it and enjoy using it. I do think that this helped inject some much needed moisture back into my dry skin but I doubt I would purchse it in full size as I want to branch out and try different facial oils.

Speaking of facial oils, I've tried a little sample of the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Sychronized Recory II which I think I'll need to try a few more samples of before I even think about purchasing.  It's the reformulated version of the original where it is much lighter in consistency, not quite as silicone heavy and absorbs into the sink quickly. For me personally, I don't think it did much for my skin apart from it leaving my skin really soft come morning. 

I've used up two sample pots of both the Estee Lauder Illuminating Perfecting Primer and the Estee Lauder Matte Perfecting Primer. I really did enjoy both these samples as I found that the matte version was perfect for around my nose area as it meant that when I used DW, it wouldn't look cakey and the illuminating version I used primarily on the tops of my cheek bones. I did actually buy the Illuminating version in full size but have since returned it as whilst I do think they're worth the money, I personally would get through both of them far too quickly and would much rather settle for a cheaper alternative. Note - my local EL counter ran out of sample pots and pinched a few from the Max Factor counter hence why they're in MF pots.

Anosmic Soaps Lip Balms

ANOSMIC SOAPS LIP BALMS

For Christmas, I received a gift bag jam packed with goodies from Anosmic Soaps which are a local company that make a variety of products including soaps, bath bombs, hand creams and lip balms which are all made using no animal fat or extracts. Being a fan of lip balms, I was delighted to see that I was given two of their lip balms, one of Red Berries and the other in Citrus which I've been using almost on a daily basis ever since I received them.

As these lip balms are made from completely natural products, I was expecting them to not to perform as well as some of my favourites but I've been thoroughly surprised. They're both light in consistency and glide onto the lips easily leaving the lips looking very glossy. My personal favourite of the two is Red Berries as it smells like artificial strawberry bubble gum unlike what its name suggest whereas Citrus smells ever so faintly of Lime Starburst which makes me crave them just by writing this. The real question though however is do they compare to other lip balms in the moisturising stakes? And the answer to that is yes. I find that they make my lips feel very soft and moisturised once I've applied them which and sticks round even hours after applying them. I personally prefer using these at night as they're so moisturising so I like to pack them on before bed and when I wake up in the morning, my lips feel very moisturised and I can still just about feel them on my lips which is a big bonus.

UPDATE 24/1/13 - I've noticed that their website appears to no longer work and I hope that this doesn't mean that they've shut up shop for good. I'll keep this post updated once it's back up and running, hopefully.