Over the past few months my love affair with false lashes has reached an all time high, however, I've been wearing false lashes on and off for the best part of six years and I've tried and tested my fair share during this time. For me, Eyelure come head and shoulders above the rest; they're cheap and cheerful, reusable and look and feel light and natural when applied to the lash line. Still, there's a few even cheaper surprises hiding within the high street - here's five of my faves for under a tenner.
1. Eylure Nadine Coyle Girls Aloud - £5.59 @ Boots
Pretty much my fail safe lashes these are perfect for creating volume, length and texture. They're a dream to apply, can be used four or five times before they start to show wear and tear and I never find myself having to re apply throughout the night. All the lashes in the Girls Aloud range are gorge depending on what you're looking for and the Kimberly ones come a close second to these for a more natural, however still dramatic look. Described as a 'plush, layered style for a cool, offset look', these lashes do exactly what they say on the tin.
2. Collection 2000 Luscious Lashes Natural - £2.99 @ Boots
Despite only offering two different styles of lashes, these Collection 2000 naturals are perfect for daily wear. Before discovering these I'd never even considered wearing false lashes on a day to day basis, however these create a very natural effect, giving your own lashes a bit of extra length that, unless you're truly blessed, mascara just can't achieve. They do sometimes need a bit of a trim at either ends as the strip runs slightly longer than the lashes and can cause some discomfort, but at less than £3 a pop and the ability to reuse them around three times, who's gonna complain?
3. Eylure 'Ultra Glam' 120's - £5.39 @ Boots
A step up from the classic 116 lash, Eylure 120's add length and volume without being too dramatic. As with all Eylure lashes these apply with ease and last throughout the day and night without unsticking at the corners. The longer spikes that sit between much shorter lashes give the 120's an evening look without overcrowding the eyelid, making them perfect for gals with smaller eyes such as myself. I'd happily wear these both throughout the day or during a night out when I want to mix it up a bit and give myself a bit of a break from my typical Girls Aloud choice. Cheap, comfortable and versatile - a winning combo.
4. Hedkandi 'Twisted Disco' by Eylure - £6.50 @ ASOS
Described as a collaboration perfect for ensuring that your lashes last as long as the music when away on a girls' holiday, the Hedkandi by Eyelure range does exactly that. I bought the 'Twisted Disco' lashes especially for Ibiza and they managed to withstand hours of drinking, dancing and sweating. Not as heavy as I'd usually wear when it comes to an evening lash, the 'Twisted Disco' lashes accentuate your lashes with length and volume, without feeling at all uncomfortable and have become my go-to holiday lashes.
5. 'Star Eyes' 2 Pack Natural Lashes - £1.59 @ Home Bargains
I know what you're all thinking already and I was as dubious as the next person when first trying these, but they're absolutely brilliant. I use an Eylure glue with these lashes so I'm unsure as to their staying power if used with the glue included, but they're incredibly easy to apply, comfortable, long wearing and can be used easily over five times. They're good enough to rival lashes five times their price and are my new go-to lashes that I've found myself reaching for daily. A perfect dupe for Eylure 116 and the Collection lashes mentioned above - albeit slightly shorter in length -, I can't sing the praises of these lashes enough. Don't knock 'em until you've tried 'em!
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....
Every since the tender age of 13 when emo was taking over the world and I wore nothing but mosher and batman tees (!!!) and covered my eyes in lashing of black kohl liner i've been a fan of black.
Needless to say my style has changed and my makeup techniques have hopefully improved, but one thing that has remained constant is that my wardrobe is still filled to the brim with black clothes. It kind of goes without saying that i'm not the biggest fan of colour and will always favour autumn/winter fashions over spring/summer. Whether it's the fact that 'black is slimming' has been drummed into my brain for the best part of 10 years, or if in fact that a small part of the pre-teen emo girl is still somewhere living inside me i'm not sure, but I can't see myself throwing out the black and embracing pink, orange, yellow and green pastel shades anytime soon.
It's universally known that black is classic. The LBD is one of the most iconic wardrobe staples and a black stiletto wins over any other colour. A black leather jacket can instantly make any outfit edgy and black jeans can easily take you from day to night. If it was a choice between black and any other colour, the chances are i'd opt for black.
The beauty of black clothing is that it goes with anything, it's timeless and will never go out of style, and I think this is why I like it so much. Very much more into beauty and make-up than I am into fashion (don't get me wrong I love clothes, and I love shopping, but I wouldn't class high fashion as one of my expertise) it's easy enough to look stylish, classy and on trend with a bit of black in your wardrobe. If in doubt, wear head to toe black and it's almost guaranteed that you'll look like you know what you're doing.
I've never been one to favour what I like to call more 'delicate' clothes; delicate ultimately being anything that doesn't have some form of embellishment, leather or stud emblazoned on it. And it just so happens that all of the above come on darker shades of clothes. I always find myself opting for clothes that edge towards the darker side of the spectrum and rarely find myself wearing anything lighter than a khaki. Even in summer I chose to complement my tan with a black, as appose to a cream or white.
It seems that the goth inside me is still a lot more present in my life than I initially thought, and I think she plans to stick around for quite a while.
After all, Christian Dior famously once said: "Black is the most slimming of colours. It is the most flattering. You can wear black at any time. You can wear it at any age. You can wear it for almost any occasion. I could write a book about black," and I couldn't agree more!
