The Haul of London

On Thursday I went up to London to visit the British Museum to see the Garden and Cosmos exhibition at the British Museum. It's a collection of paintings from India that were displayed in the royal courts between the 17th and 19th century. The paintings were absolutely beautiful, amazingly detailed and very very colourful! The exhibition runs till the 11th October 2009 and I highly recommend a visit!

Plus the British Museum is close to Oxford Street - which coincidentally has a MAC pro store very close.

I was very impressed with myself for buying not a lot! Of course, I would have bought more - but I tend to get overwhelmed in Oxford Street and end up running frazzled to Oxford Circus (whilst dodging the buses) to escape. But I braved the summer holiday madness and went to the MAC store to get my 15 pan pro palette I have been wanting forever... I bought it and went to Starbucks (the one that is miles away from MAC) and had a mango and passion fruit frappacino (YUM), and discovered they had given me the blush palette rather than the eyeshadow one! Sooo I walked all the way back, and exchanged it, and then went loopy and bought Silver Ring and a 239. That wasn't the plan! But Silver Ring is very pretty.

On the way back I noticed a Superdrug and found a Sleek 'Storm' palette! We don't have them 'down south' in my local Superdrug so I grabbed the last one.

It is beautiful. Smokey colours are my favourite and the shadows are very very pigmented. They are mostly shimmery with a matte light brown, dark brown and black. I think this could possibly be all you'd need in the eyeshadow department if you were that way inclined... which I'm not. But in all honesty, you can create both daytime and nightime looks with just this one palette. For £4.50! Fabulous.

Finally, I'm starting to become hooked on River Island. They're prices are excellent and a lot of there stuff is quite original. I went into Topshop on Oxford Street and felt old. I love there stuff too, but sometimes I end up looking 12 and very... Topshop-esque. I digress. I bought these chocolate coloured furry slippers :) They're so comfy and I adore the ribbon, diamante and stud detailing!

I want to go back to London already. It is by far the most amazing city on earth. I only live an hour away, why do I complain?

Current Favourite Drugstore Mascaras

Maybelline Lash Stiletto - Max Factor Masterpiece - Max Factor False Lash Effect

These are my current favourites when it comes to mascaras. I've always found that you can buy a good mascara that is a strong contender against it's high-end contender in a drugstore if you know what to look for. Which leaves precious pennies to buy the things reach really do differ in quality, such as eyeshadows.

For my favourites I picked out my favourite everyday mascara, my favourite waterproof everyday mascara (for the British weather, and days when I feel I may burst into tears) and my favourite evening mascara with that added va va voom.

Maybelline Lash Stiletto - £7.82

for everyday use

Apart from having really really rather nice packaging, this is a great everyday mascara. The bristly brush is very thin so easy to get into the roots of the lashes and separate them all, it is also tapered so it allows you to get the tiny lashes in the corners of your eyes. It's described as being an 'ultra length mascara' and in adverts it claims it can lengthen by up to 70% : I found it to be quite lengthening but not too 'ultra', so I would personally describe it more as a lengthening mascara that maintains the natural look! It is very easy to remove with your usual eye make up removing routine so there is no need to scrub it off!

Max Factor Masterpiece (waterproof) - £8.80

for rainy/gym/emotional days

Max factor make my absolute favourite mascaras. The quality of the packaging and formula is brilliant and I don't think I have ever used a mascara from them that I was disappointed with. The Masterpiece mascara is probably my most used out of the three because I feel safe with it on. I have no worries about it running down my face, clumping, or any other unpretty side effect! The brush is perfect; plastic bristles and very flexible so easy to wiggle around your lashes and get them all coated nicely before you comb it through adding definition and framing. It passed the swimming test with flying colours (no smudges!). Due to the waterproofness of this, it is more difficult to remove - I use an oil based eye make up remover and cotton pad which helps break up the product more easily meaning you can wipe it away.

Max Factor False Lash Effect - £10.99

For nights out or days when you want look fab

This is brilliant. It does what it says on the... tube! It lengthens, thickens, and basically does everything and more than a good pair of false lashes can do. Stay on! The brush is what you would call in all politeness, fat! But that is what makes this product work wonders on your lashes. I haven't yet tried the non-waterproof version of this, but I feel that the waterproof formula adds to the overall effect as all waterproof mascaras hold the curl effect you make with your curlers better than a non-waterproof version. However, nothing can be perfect. This is an absolute -bad word- to remove. Even with an oil based remover, and at a horrid stretch, baby oil, you will still need to put a little scrubbing into removing this. The price we pay to look pretty. If this was easier to remove, I would probably wear this at every moment I could, but I save it for special occasions due to the removal process.

I'm off to London tomorrow until Friday, so there will possibly (who am I kidding, of course there will be!) a huge amount of spending :)