Rimmel 321 FAIL

I’m a huge geek and I do love my gadgets. So of course when I spotted Rimmels 3 in 1 looks adjustable volume mascara I pounced. I’m normally a huge fan of Rimmel mascaras too so between my previous experiences and the gadgetry this was building up to be one hell of a mascara.

The premise is this; you twist the mascara tube to different settings. This alters the amount of product that comes out onto the wand giving you either a subtle look or lashings of mascara. You can see here the wand at stage 1:

And stage 3:

That is a lot of mascara at stage 3... Here are my naked (curled) lashes:


And my lashes with one coat at stage 1:


Hmm. Not bad but not brilliant. Even at this stage I could tell this mascara wouldn’t work for me. The formula leaves my lashes crispy and spiky. It’s not comfortable at all. Normally I don’t have an issue with mascaras not being black enough but this one is positively grey. I dialled it up to level 3:


Ew ew ew... It dragged down the curl and bound my lashes together in a clumpy, spiky, grey mess. I’ve given less than enamoured reports about mascaras before but I’ve never actually hated one like I hate this one. I’m determined to use it up but I’m going to have to do so at level 1. It was reasonably cheap (I think I paid £5.99) but it goes without saying that I won’t be buying another. Sorry Rimmel, I love you but this mascara sucks!

*I bought this with my own money and really wish I hadn’t bothered. My reviews are always my (sometimes brutally) honest opinion. For more info see the disclosure policy on the left*

Finished!

I like the last post I did on items that I’ve finished recently. I think it’s useful to look back at a product, even if it’s already been reviewed by me, and ask myself whether I miss it enough to repurchase now that it’s gone. I may love or hate a product after the first few uses but by the end of a bottle/packet/pan you have a much better sense of it. Here are our goodbyes this month: (ones with a * have been reviewed here fully)

Simple Eye Makeup Remover * :
No no no no. I will not be repurchasing. I love many Simple products. This is not one of them. It stung the skin underneath my eyes and did not do a good job of removing waterproof mascara.

Lancôme Bi Facil Eye Makeup Remover * :
Love it! I will repurchase one day but not today. At just under £20 a bottle it’s just too pricey for me. This little sample lasted me a good long while though.

The Body Shop Mango Body Butter:
Mmmm this smelt so good. It was a rich, moisturising treat post bath. The cream is insanely thick and I found it to be very moisturising. I have another body butter on the go right now!

Simple Radiance Brightening Moisturiser SPF10 * :
I really liked this. It was a good, fairly light daytime moisturiser. The SPF could do with being a bit higher but at least it has some in it. It’s super cheap too. I’d be quite happy to repurchase this in future.

Garnier Makeup Remover Wipes * :
I hated these. They did a pretty shoddy job of removing my makeup and pulled at my skin whilst doing it. I won’t be repurchasing.

MAC Brush Cleanser:
The remnants of this are in a spray bottle but I need to pick up another ASAP (and will be back to MAC-ing the bottle once I have 5 more empties!). I love this stuff, I just wish they’d put a damn spray on it.

Boot Vitamin E Night Cream * :
I really liked this too actually and for less than a fiver I’ll be picking some more up in future. I’m currently trying a couple of other things though and when I was last in Boots they were sold out! Evidently I’m not the only one who likes this beauty bargain!

Lush Bubble Gum Lip Scrub * :
No I didn’t use this up. It exploded in my travel makeup bag whilst on a business trip. It took me 20 minutes to clean sugar out of my eyelash curlers... This was always the problem with this product though. It does a fantastic job for a reasonable price but it’s as messy as a toddler with a paint can. For this reason I won’t be repurchasing which means I’m on the hunt for a new lip scrub. Any suggestions?

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder:
Ah my dear, we knew it had to end one day. This thing is so old it’s in the old packaging and all the type has faded off. Look!

I really liked this stuff. I go through a lot of powder in an effort to keep my nose none shiny and this has been an invaluable companion in that quest. The Sam to my Frodo if you will (Ok who let the geek out?) Ahem anyway it’s a fab drugstore pressed powder that I will happily repurchase in all its shexy new green packaging. I need to use up a couple of other powders first but when I have I’ll probably buy it and give it the full review it deserves.

So it’s been a mixed bag. Some hits, some misses, some unnecessary Lord of the Rings similes. I always get such a sense of satisfaction when I finish a product. I prance about waving the empty container in my husband’s face in a triumphant demonstration of “see! I really do use all this stuff!” Do you get the same sense of satisfaction? Xxx

*I bought the above products with my own money. I always give my honest opinion of a product. For further info see my disclaimer in the menu on the left*

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipsticks

One of my favourite lipstick formulas is Rimmels Moisture Renew line. I find that the leave my lips in fantastic condition. The staying power is average but I’m not complaining as long wearing lip colours tend to give me cat bum mouth. Recently I picked up 3 more to add to my collection.

Unfortunately there were no testers available which means though I was looking for wearable work shades that’s not quite what I ended up with. Fist we have Fancy which is a light cool pink with a silvery frost. It is VERY frosty on, pretty and fairly sheer but if you like a matte finish then none of these will be for you.

Next is Latino. This is my favourite of the three. It’s a warmer, brighter pink than Fancy but still quite cool toned with less sparkle but still a distinctly metallic finish. It’s a little less sheer than Fancy.

Finally there is Rose Sorbet. This is not one for the faint of heart, when I wear this I wear very little other makeup. It’s a super bright pink with more of a red tinge to it. Again the finish is metallic rather than sparkly

The swatches have Rose Sorbet on top, Latino in the middle and Fancy on the bottom. They are pigmented enough to be built up to a really bright finish but can also be worn fairly sheer as well. They come in the signature purple Rimmel packaging which I love and are often buy 2 get 1 free (normal price at Boots is £5.99).

Rimmel Stay Matte Mouse Foundation

In the battle against my shiny nose (I swear the glare made a car swerve the other day) I count any product with the word ‘matte’ in the title a god send. Rimmel have a few variations on their matte foundations but being a sucker for anything novelty the ‘soufflé’ formula called out to me. Mmm squishy.

As well as promising a matte complexion the packaging also makes the rather bold claim of not 8, not 12 but 16 hour wear. This makes sense if you think about it. Most of us wear our makeup for longer than companies’ claim it will last. If I’m at work then I will be applying at 6:30am and taking it off at 10:00pm. At the very least I want to look like my makeup hasn’t gone walkies by the time I leave the office.


Unfortunately I was disappointed by this foundation. The lightest colour I could find was so yellow/ orange toned it gave me oompa loompa face (100 Ivory). I felt a curious tightening sensation around my eyes as it dried which I disliked (I don’t like being able to feel my foundation that much). I like to apply all products with brushes because I’m funny about getting things on my hands but when I tried applying this with a brush it just would not blend. In my 6:30 in the morning brain fog I managed to leave the house for work with a streak of it across my nose. Not a sexy look. The results are better when applied with your fingers but I HATE doing that.
The product did deliver on the mattifying promise and the staying power was pretty good. By mid afternoon I did have to apply powder to my nose as it was starting to slide off but I do have very oily skin there. Other positives include the packaging, I love a glass jar, and the price, I forget how much it was but it was a lot less the £10 I seem to recall.

It goes without saying that I won’t be repurchasing. This foundation just isn’t for me. If however the colour is a good match for you and you don’t mind applying with your fingers then I would recommend it as it does help mattify your skin and it does last a fair bit longer than most other drugstore foundations I’ve tried, though 16 hours is defiantly pushing it.

Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara

Happy Easter Folks! Hope everyone got plenty of chocolate :-)

Mascara is one of those funny products that a lot of us can’t justify spending a lot of money on. It goes off quickly and there are so many fab drugstore mascaras out there for less than a tenner so I just can’t justify spending as much on mascaras as I can when it comes to other longer lasting cosmetic items. With high street heroes like Rimmel Sexy Curves down to £5.99 in Superdrug at the moment why would you want to spend more?


This mascara ticks all the boxes for me. It lengthens my lashes, keeps a curl in place better than many other mascaras I’ve tried and no matter how cack handed I am with the application it doesn’t clump on me. I don’t know how the weird bobbly wand works but it does. The end bobble is great for getting into the corners and wiggling onto your bottom lashes. It doesn’t flake or run. I walked home in the rain the other day then promptly got in a hot bath for an hour and it was still clinging onto my lashes for dear life. The packaging is great too! The pic doesn’t show it well but it’s a metallic purple that really stands out on my makeup bag. No I don’t work for Rimmel, I just love this mascara.

If you are looking for a volumising/ false lash effect mascara then this isn’t for you. I didn’t notice any dramatic thickening of my lashes but that’s not what I want from a mascara. In case you’re wondering, yes. I will most defiantly be buying this mascara again.

More empties?

I’m having to do another empties post earlier than scheduled as the little box I keep them in was full! It’s amazing how quickly things get used up when you stop faffing about with new goodies and actually crack on with the half empty bottles in your bath room. This month’s no buy went disastrously wrong so I’m starting afresh. 

Botanics Daily Hand Therapy SPF 10 – I like this hand cream and have several tubes of it. It sinks in quickly, doesn’t have an overpowering scent and the SPF is an added bonus. The only down side is my hands start to feel dry again quite quickly so I have to reapply often. £4.07 but often on offer in Boots. 

ELF Shine Eraser Blot Sheets – These are an absolute staple in my hand bag and now I’ve run out I’m panicking. My local Boots doesn’t have any brand of blot sheets in and I don’t want to put an ELF order in just now because I know I’ll go nuts. These do the job very nicely for only £1.50! 

Boots Vitamin E Moisture Lotion SPF15 – This 100ml tube lasted me forever! And at £2.85 it’s fantastic value for money. It didn’t irritate my skin and was certainly moisturising enough on my dry bits although it was a tad greasy and took a while o sink in properly. For that reason I won’t repurchase as I just don’t have time to hang around in the morning waiting for my moisturiser to sink in. 

Superdrug own brand eyelash curler – Meh it was ok. Cheap (less than a fiver I think) and didn’t pinch but not so amazing I’d go out of my way to repurchase it again. 

Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara – I really did like this and if it weren’t for the fact that I have about 10 unopened mascaras sitting around I would repurchase. It’s not often I properly empty a tube of mascara before the formula goes off but there is nothing left in this one! Current Boots price (on offer) £6.19.

Bare Minerals original foundation sample – it’s not for me. 

Blistex Intensive Moisturiser Lip Cream – I’ve gone through a thousand of these and I’ll buy a thousand more. Smells, tastes and feels disgusting but works like magic. £2.54

Nivea Rich Nourishing Body Moisturiser – didn’t like the smell or the texture. It was so thick it was difficult to spread on the skin and just seemed to sit on top of it rather than sinking in. Would not repurchase. £3.56

Umberto Giannini Dry Shampoo – The bottle was faulty which has put me off buying another one. £5.61

Spa Lavender and Peppermint SOS Foot Treatment Scrub – Bought from Aldi of all places for a couple of quid (I forget exactly how much). This is very thick, very abrasive and smells gorgeous. Just the thing for perking up iffy feet in between attacks with the ped egg. 

Radox Shower Smoothies Shower gel – LOVE THESE. They smell divine and don’t dry my skin out. Only down side is the bottles don’t last very long. £2.54

MAC Brush Cleanser – Already had a back up. Love this for spot cleaning my brushes (I use baby shampoo to deep clean them). Make sure you put it in a spray bottle. It’s easier to use that way and lasts longer! £8.50

L’Oréal Perfect Clean Gentle Foaming Exfoliating Scrub – I really just buy these face washes for the little scrublets that come with them. This one was fine in the summer but over the winter it became too drying for me. I’m currently using the pink (gentle) one but it’s still a tad drying. £5.10 

TREsemme Colour Protecting Shampoo – Nothing special really but you get a huge bottle for £3.26 which makes it good value. Doesn’t strip the dye out of hair. I’m trying to move to SLS free products though so I probably won’t repurchase. 

Batiste Original Dry Shampoo – I prefer the smell and the colour of the brunette version so I won’t buy this one again. £2.35

Pantene Colour Care Conditioner – Didn’t really do much for my hair at all. Will not repurchase £4.07.

Sadly not much in the way of makeup in this round. Hopefully that will have changed next month! On the plus side this means I’ve used up roughly £58 worth of products so at least I know that money wasn’t wasted! X

*All of the above products were purchased by yours truly apart from the Bare Minerals sample which was free with a mag... which I also bought myself*

Manicure of the Week

This is Rimmel London Steel Gray, a shade similar to Sephora by OPI Metro Chic and OPI You Don't Know Jacques. The Rimmel polishes have these amazing flat, wide brushes that allow you to coat the nail in one stroke. I think they're genius!