I'll admit it, i'm a make up snob! I rarely try any high street products and the ones that I do i'm never completely satisfied with.
However, a couple of months before christmas i'd come to the end of my trusty Benefit mascara and needed a new one. Being a student, money is tight and I couldn't bring myself to part with £20 on one mascara. So I headed to the high street.
I'd used a variety of Maybelline mascaras throughout college when I was 16/17 and a bit of a makeup amateur, not yet familiar with any high end brands other than MAC. Whilst browsing my local Boots store I remember how much of a fan I used to be of the 'Colossal volume express' mascara and 'The Falsies' mascara, both by Maybelline. It was a toss up between the two but in the end I opted for the 'Colossal' because I much preferred the look of the brush and was a fan of the similarity that it had to Benefit's 'Bad Gal Lash'.
Although significantly smaller than 'Bad Gal' (will any brush beat it?) the Maybelline Colossal brush is a dream to work with. It's big enough for me to achieve the look I want, however not too big as to become uncontrollable. I very much favour volume mascara's over length as my eyelashes are quite long to begin with, and the colossal volume express mascara is perfect for achieving this.
The colour is very very black and I find that it stays on my lashes all day. I found myself almost disappointed when it ran out and I went back to using Bad Gal Lash. Don't get me wrong, Benefit mascaras are pretty much unbeatable, but for pretty much half the price, Maybelline Colossal is ultimately the perfect dupe and a great stand in until you can afford something that little bit more expensive.
The one down side of this mascara is that i'm not necessarily a huge fan of the packaging. I find the bright yellow very garish and not fitting with the rest of my makeup. But for all it's plus points I can definitely let this point slide and will no doubt find myself picking up another once my current mascaras have dried up and ran out.
The day rolls around every year and slowly but surely reminds us singles just how very single we really are. Yep, you've guessed it! I'm talking about Valentines Day.
Now, whether it's to do with the fact that i've never in fact been in a relationship on valentines day (says a lot about my love life doesn't it) or because i've grown up in a house where little to no fuss has been made on the day, I don't know, but I just don't get it (i'm not bitter, I swear!).
The idea of having a day to declare your love to your partner seems almost alien to me. Call me old fashioned but whatever happened to showing your significant other how much they mean to you every day of the year? To me it's always just been another day, but I can almost guarantee that the day that I am in a relationship on valentines day, I won't be making a fuss.
Despite the idea that teddy bears holding hearts telling me i'm the 'only one for them' makes me cringe beyond belief - I never have been one for cheesy, needy declarations of love and a teddy, seriously am I 12 years old?! - wasting money on a box of chocolates and flowers that i'd appreciate much more if I was surprised with them any other day of the year seems like a complete waste of money.
I'm all for showing your parter how much they mean to you, but the sickly connotations that accompany valentines day makes me want to crawl into a ball and let the ground swallow me up. Comparably, my parents have been together for the best part of 20 years, have not once celebrated a valentines day that I know of, and are still in as much of a happy and committed relationship as the day that they met. It just goes to show that you don't need to lumber your partner with embarrassing gifts on one over hyped day of the year to secure a long term relationship.
I've never been one of those girls that needs a man in their life to make them feel happy (all the women who independent, throw your hands up at me etc etc) so it's easy for me to push the idea of valentines day under the carpet and completely forget it exists - despite the fact that everywhere you turn there's something, somewhere advertising it - but I can appreciate that there's some girls out there that feel the opposite.
Seriously though girls, if you're holding our for a man that's only going to show his affection on one day, you're wasting your time. I'd much rather be in a relationship with someone that worships the ground I walk on every other day of the year and completely ignores the concept of valentines day; at least then I'll know that his affection is sincere and a hell of a lot more genuine than some half-arsed card and stuffed toy thrown my way on 14th february each year.
I'll be spending my valentines day with my girlfriends, a bottle (or two) of wine and a takeaway. All together now ALL THE SINGLE LADIES....
