Essence Superfine Eyeliner Pen

Essence Superfine Eyeliner Pen - £2.50

If there's a part of my daily make-up routine I simply can't skip, it has to be liquid eyeliner. I'm constantly on the look out for something to challenge my current favourite, Stila's Stay All Day Liquid Eye Liner, which gives beautiful, precise black lines and it really doesn't budge. But, at £13.00, it can become quite a pricey addition to my make-up bag, especially when I forget to tighten the lid and it ends up drying out fairly quickly! 

When I stumbled across Essence, a super cheap German brand now stocked in Wilkinsons, I couldn't resist picking up the Superfine Eyeliner. The brand actually had about 4 different liquid eyeliners to choose from and a variety of kohl and gel formulas as well. I decided on the Superfine Eyeliner in deep black as the pen nib was rather similar to Stila's Stay All Day liner and I was hopeful that I'd found a dupe.

Although it's not perfect, for £2.50 this eyeliner is rather impressive. If I'm ever short for cash and out of liquid liner I would happily pick this up again! The Superfine Eyeliner's staying power is fantastic and it doesn't budge all day until I take it off with a make-up wipe (rather easily which means no sore eyelids). It also produces a very black line however my main issue is with the application which tends to effect the pigmentation of the liner. Every so often, usually at certain angles, the felt tip nip refuses to release the product and sometimes the line begins to get more transparent and less pigmented in certain areas which I think you might be able to see in the swatch above. The problem would normally be easy to fix by simply going over the line again but, unless you use a kind of dabbing/patting motion to release the product onto an already existing line, which can get messy, the sweeping motion of relining almost removes the original line completely (in a kind of make-up remover effect, I hope I'm making some kind of sense here!).  To fix this problem I usually just add a little bit of black eyeshadow over the lighter, less pigmented areas but for girls in a hurry, or people seeking the perfect liquid liner, this will definitely be a problem which is such a shame as the other elements of the product are really good.

Despite the application issues with the Superfine Eyeliner, I'm still very eager to try out more from products from Essence - especially the other eyeliners! The formulation seems to be brilliant and, hopefully, the other products will avoid the application issues!

What are your favourite Essence products? 

The Classic Red Lip

(Left to Right: Rimmel Apocalips in Big Bang, Mac On Hold, Bobbi Brown Hollywood Red)

Lip products are my weakness, especially red ones. I've loved the classic red lip look for as long as I can remember, I think one of the first lip products I ever bought was a sparkly red lipgloss from Rimmel and whenever I put it on I truly felt like a grown up. There's something so chic, so feminine and so elegant about red lipstick and I thought it was about time I dedicated a blog post to my favourite lip colour!

Shamefully, I have yet to try Mac's Ruby Woo (America's best selling lipstick of 2013 apparently!) which is terrible considering I'm a self-confessed red lipstick addict. My favourite everyday red lipstick, however, is also by Mac. On Hold, a Cremesheen, is not as classic as Ruby Woo but it's a beautiful alternative for a more subtle, casual look. It has a slightly pinker, raspberry tone which tends to make it more wearable if you're not feeling that bold and it has amazing staying power! However, if I do feel like making a statement one day I always reach for Big Bang, a super vibrant red shade from Rimmel's Apocalips line. I've mentioned the Apocalips line before here and here and I really can not praise Rimmel enough for how pigmented and long lasting this line is. Big Bang is the ultimate classic red shade and I like to use a lip brush to apply this for accurate results. My final favourite is a product I tend to gravitate towards when I'm going somewhere fancy, such as dinner or an important event. Bobbi Brown's Hollywood Red lipgloss is, out of all my red lip products, probably my favourite. It really does remind me of old Hollywood stars like Marylin and Audrey and it leaves a lovely shine on the lips. It's such an opaque gloss and it's actually quite difficult to get off so you certainly don't need to worry about it fading throughout the night.

What are your favourite red lip products? I'd love to know in the comments below!

Mini Autumn Accessories Haul

Yesterday was the first day I could truly tell it was Autumn. After a downpour of rain, something England hasn't had in a while surprisingly, I was walking home through some leaves and for the first time this year that Autumnal smell hit me. You know the one, that recently wet leaves smell mixed with horse chestnuts and the scent of rain (I wish someone in England would bundle it up into a candle already!) Anyway, I've been shopping a little bit recently to update my wardrobe for the new season. This is part one of my shopping spree and it's dedicated to accessories (Part 2 is going to be an Autumn fashion haul but as a newbie blogger I really didn't realise how hard it is to photograph clothes! Hopefully that post will be on the way soon...)

Red Tartan Reversible Scarf - New Look £14.99

I've seen so many different versions of the tartan/dogstooth scarf in various stores lately and, even though I don't like to have that item that everybody seems to be wearing, I couldn't resist buying this scarf from New Look. I've always had a tartan scarf in my wardrobe but this reversible one adds a little bit of excitement to my collection! I know Primark make a cheaper version (I think it's about £6?) but I fell in love with the texture and the colours of this one from New Look. My camera isn't the best but hopefully you can spot the green and blue within the dogstooth print which I think adds a softness to the design. New Look also have a plain black dogstooth version of this scarf which you can find here if you're into more classic colours. I couldn't contain my excitement when it was finally cold enough to wear this yesterday and this one is oversized too so I was really cosy!

Two Skinny Belts - Primark (in stores) £2 

Belts tend not to be the most exciting accessory in the world but as the temperature drops and the weather gets more unpleasant I find myself wearing jeans a lot. I love wearing cropped jumpers with my jeans and adding a belt makes the outfit look a little bit more put together. For once I actually love both of the belts in this twin set from Primark and I simply can't pick a favourite! The Aztec print and dark, berry-like colour scheme is perfect for Autumn and the cream cut-out design on the other belt reminds me of snowflakes and winter time which makes me really excited for Christmas (it's not too early to be excited yet is it?!) The design of the buckle is also really cute and the belts are really cheap at only £1 each!

Black Duo Zip Bag - Primark £6

I was in need of a little handbag to take with me in the evenings and even though Primark had so many lovely designs in store at the moment I found most of them to be too boxy and bulky. I mainly picked up this bag for its softness and flexibility! It feels quite expensive and it's also quite spacious as it has two compartments. I like the simple, classic design of this bag and the gold detailing. The only annoying thing is that the zips seem to get stuck quite often - I'm not sure if this is a design fault or I might have just picked up a faulty bag!

What are your favourite accessories this Autumn?