W7 Absolute lashes V's Benefit They're Real

When I first saw W7 Absolute Lashes I thought well this looks familiar, but will it actually be the dupe that I have been searching for. Benefit They're Real has been my holy grail mascara for the last few years I have short, straight, blonde lashes and nothing else really creates a look like it until now that is.......

So on first glance the brushes of both mascaras are really similar the W7 is just slightly smaller than The Benefit.
So I wore the W7 mascara for a few days and was really impressed with it, It is a great mascara and at only €3.50 you really couldnt go wrong but I wanted to test it directly against the Benefit They're Real so I figured the only way I could achieve this was to wear each mascara at the same time and It was with this thought that I ended up wearing W7 Absolute lashes on one eye and Benefit Theyre real on the other eye for a number of days. This really allowed me to compare them in every way.

This side (left) is the W7 Absolute lashes and right is Benefit Theyre Real. Do you see a difference?
This pic is each mascara applied onto my lashes with no curlers used etc.

The W7 is slightly more effort to apply as It does need a few brushes through to get the desired look but definitely nothing that would put you off. They both look exactly the same on which you can see from the pic. Whats even better is they both lasted the same amount of time with the plus that the W7 was easier to remove!
I have never found a duplicate that is this close to the higher end product. I mean there really isnt any difference well except if you count the huge €22.50 price difference.
This W7 Absolute Lashes will definitely be the one that will be in my makeup bag in the future I cant believe that I can get all of this quality that really delivers for only €3.50!!
Get yourself one of these ASAP and let me know in the comments what you think x
* I was sent the w7 absolute lashes as a PR sample 

Younique 3D fiber lashes

If your anything like me you will have noticed the bombardment on twitter and Instagram lately of this new make up brand Younique. So when Rachael sent me some products to try I was really intrigued to see what all of the fuss was about. I was sent Moodstruck 3D fiber lashes. 

My very first impressions of this were how fancy the fiber lashes kit was packaged. It comes in a hard case really like a sunglasses case lined with suede with the younique logo on both outside and inside. I have been cursed with short, straight, blonde, sparse eyelashes and anyone who reads my blog regularly know that Im fussy about eyelash products. I was eager to try this because the pictures I had seen were of these mega eyelashes, now from past experience I knew not to expect this as the mega lashes are probably the result on those who already have mega eyelashes on their own. 

I figured the best way for me to review this was trying It out lots and including lots of before and after pics.

So this is a two part kit you need to add your own mascara to this so the two parts that you do get are transplanting gel and natural fibres. 

You then need to follow these steps to get the look. One of the tips is to do one eye at a time rather than trying to do both. 

1. Apply your mascara on both eyes and let dry.
2. Apply an even coat of transplanting gel on lashes
3. immediately before gel dries apply fibers onto lashes
4. Seal fibers with another coat of transplanting gel. 

This was my first time using fibres on my eyelashes and I have to say I am a fan I didnt think that the difference would be quite as noticable on my lashes as It is, and I do have to admit that regular mascara just dosnt have the same appeal after using this. The first time I used It I did have a lot of the fibres fall onto my cheeks but Ive since read this is from putting on too much fibres oops and It was fine on the other tries. This will definitely be a go to product for me for special occasions that I previously would have worn false lashes for.

Younique will be opening in UK on October 1st for Presenters (sellers) and will open for customers on November 1st. Ive been told that there is amazing opportunities for those who do want to become presenters, for customers the 3D fiber lashes retails at £23. 

If you are unable to wait for the two months you can buy from Rachel with a delivery charge of £6.95.

If you do want to buy or want information about becoming a presenter or would just like some more info about the rest of the products that Younique have to offer contact Rachel on

www.benaturallyfabulash.com or benaturallyfabulash@gmail.com

Budget Face in Products 5 - the final one!!!

Hi Everyone not only is it Friday again whoop! Its also the last in my series Budget Face In Products-Boo!! But I will be doing a roundup later this week of my favourite products from the series so keep a watch for it.
I have really enjoyed doing this series and am already planning another Face in Products series with a little twist!
Usually everything comes in under €20 but today I have cheated and the final price is €20.76 but I hope you enjoy reading and Id love for you to leave a comment post at the end.

Starting with base today I have gone for a brand I havent used since I was a teenager Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation. I have used this in the shade soft beige, I would say its a light-medium coverage a little more on the medium side. It claims to be anti-fatigue with a radiant glow. when you pump it out (just over 2 pumps for my face) it has a really strong gold shimmer running through and looks more like a highlighter but once on my face I didnt notice the shimmer. I definitely knew I was wearing makeup but the look stayed really dewy which I love, the only slight issue I had was it settle into my forehead wrinkles a little but I think a primer under would stop that. All in all I like it and It will definitely remain in my makeup bag. This retails for €10.99.

For my cheeks I have used MakeUp Revolution Cream Blush in shade Peach Cream. I am a huge fan of this blush Im completely in love with the colour and think that it is what angels cheeks would look like. Im also a fan of a cream blush and this one has really nice colour that is very easy to blend too. This blush is an absolute steal at just €1.80!! A budget must have.

Next up is my eyes I have used Wet nWild Mega Protein Mascara partly because I wanted to give it a second try and partly because I needed to use my cheapest mascara to make sure I didnt blow my budget! Its OK for €2.99 It is what It is It blackens lashes and thats about It. On the plus side I had no nasty reaction like I have gotten from some mascaras even high end ones.

For my eyebrows I have used Eyes Lips Face Eyebrow Kit. This is also a favorite of mine that I have been using now for at least a year. It consists of a wax and a powder. For this look I have applied the wax first followed by the powder. This retails for €4.98.

Hope you have all enjoyed todays post and dont forget to watch out for my favorites from the series coming soon.
As always here are my selfies.

Budget face in Products 4

Hi everyone I cant believe its Friday again already! That means its time for the fourth installment of Budget Face in Products todays offering features products from W7, Essence, Barry M, Wet n Wild and Catrice.
I have tried something a little different today, I am going slightly au naturel and I am not wearing any foundation. I did a post earlier this week on a Physician Formula lip stain (find it here) and in my pics I wore only the lip no other make up so It inspired me to do this with no base, see how you like it and let me know with a comment at the end. As always the entire look comes in at under €20

First up as I wasnt using any base was the *W7 tea tree concealer in shade light/medium. This is a stick concealer and did give fairly good coverage. It was a little thick feeling on my skin but I do put that completely down to the fact that I had no base over It. The shade matched perfect. This actually held up really well considering It was all that I had used and hadn't even been set with powder. For this look I just drew it on with the stick and blended a little with a real techniques sponge. This concealer comes in at €4.98.

Next up was my brows for them I have used Catrice Eyebrow Filler this is an eyebrow gel with fibres to fill in gaps. I bought this as I had wanted to try this type of product since I heard of Benefit gimme brow. I just didnt like this Its not for me I need to at least try to sculpt my brows but this is for a more au-naturel look. for anyone who is looking for that look this would probably be a good product. It retails for €3.99 but I only paid €2 for it as part of a promo.

For my eyeshadow I have used *Essence Matte Glam eyeshadow in Frosted Apple this isnt normally a colour I would wear but I gave It a go and It actually started to grow on me as the day went on. Its a pink colour with lots of sparkle, there is a good bit of fall out from the shadow but still a nice pigment and good staying power. The shadow retails at €3.09 and at that price I would definitely purchase in a different colour.

Next on my eyes I used Wet n Wild Mega Protein Mascara. This retails at €2.99 and what can I say its a bit meh, I wasnt impressed with It and wouldnt wear again. Somebody who has naturally long curly lashes might like this but its just not for me.

Lastly I went with a bold lip in the form of *BarryM Loud Mouth. This is a lip gloss/stain and has a very bold colour. the shade I used was Diva. It looked a really dark maroon colour in the tube but was actually a lot more wearable while on the lip. Its not sticky which is nice but is a bit messy so I used a lip brush to apply and would reccommend to do the same. This retails at €5.99.

Todays look came in at the budget friendly price of €19.05! 

As always here is my before and after shots. I love when readers leave me comments and always read and reply to all.
*PR samples.

Budget Face In Products Part 1

Welcome to my brand new blogpost series! I really enjoyed doing my face in products series and I knew I wanted to do something similar again so I began brainstorming and came up with a budget version. I have planned for this series start to coincide with my 1 month blogiversarie! And I plan on posting a new post from this series every Friday for the next 5 weeks. Every face of the series will come in complete at under €20 (or very close to it!) and in most cases much much less.

The majority of the products I'm using for this are really new to me and so I am trying to push myself to experiment with the make up in ways I wouldn't normally. Some of the products have been kindly sent to me by the brands, my opinion on these products are my own and I will place a * beside these products. 

For my first installment I have created a daytime casual make up look using only 4 products and all coming in at the budget price of €15.44.

First up was my base Wet n Wild Cover All Foundation. In the interest in keeping the final look as budget friendly as possible I haven't used any concealer or powder to set this. This foundation claims to be medium to high coverage and I'd go more toward the medium, it took a lot of product to cover my face two squeezes to be exact. The consistency is good a little on the watery side though. It was easy enough to apply this look was done with a stipple brush but I later tried it with a sponge and that was way better. I used shade light/medium and I'm a mac nc 20-25 just for reference.  This foundation comes in at €4.99 and for that price it's ok for a daytime base. 

The second product I used was Make up revolution blush. This was in shade  treat, it's a deep coral/pink colour and at €1.20 it's perfect for adding a pop of colour. 

Next up is * W7 soufflé mascara in Blackest black. As those of you who read my blog will know I'm very fussy when it comes to mascara as it's not just any mascara that will make my lashes well look like lashes! 

This mascara has a really big thick brush that reminds me of the brush from Benefit BadGal. 

The BadGal is silver, soufflé is blue. You can see here just how similar they are.

 It goes on easy feels light and leaves lashes really nicely defined. It's light enough to do up to 3 coats which leaves lashes really full and defined. In my opinion this is a definite dupe for Benefit BadGal mascara and a steal at only €6.25. 

Finally I pushed myself a little for this I used Makeup Revolution focus & fix eyebrow kit. I used this on my brows but this kit has 3 different shades for brows so I also used this kit for today's eye make up. I used the lightest and darkest shades for my eye look and the middle on my brows. The lasting time wasn't amazing on my eyes but it may last longer with primer. At €3.00 it is perfect for a multi-tasking handbag essential. 

As always find my before ( it was very very early) and after selfie . 

I hope you loved this post and are as excited about the new series as I am. 

As always find me on twitter @clareken86 

And Instagram : sparkleblossombeauty

Face in Products Part 4.........

Today is day 4 of my series of face of the day in products, today is a weekday so I'm keeping things natural(ish) in the make up dept.
As is customary with these posts I will include my before and after selfie at the end!

First up is cover up, today I'm using Benefit Erase Paste, I've never actually used this before but it was just lying around in my parents house so i'll give that a go.
I used this pretty sparingly first of all because it was my first time I wasn't sure what It could do and second because I was following it with Double wear which dosn't require much covering up beforehand. I used it on my eyes, liked the product and did what it was meant to. I will definitely be testing this in more detail when I can get my hands on it again ;)

For my base I used Estee Lauder Double Wear the shade I wear is tawny and I'm about a mac nc20-25 (for comparison). This is my go to foundation right now for a night out/ special occasion or a really bad cover everything up face day! I love this most of the time but find it slightly heavy in the summer, there is a double wear light and the reviews are good I just haven't trialed it yet. I use a stipple brush to apply and as my skin is slightly dry I don't need a powder to set it.

Next I'll go to my cheeks I've used Soap & Glory peach party blush in shade Apricot Jam.
This is a shimmer brick type blush and gives a lovely healthy glow on cheeks, perfect for a natural look.

For my eyebrows I used a Collection eyebrow pencil/crayon in Blonde and just did a simple fill in on my brows. This has been covered in some of my previous face in products posts so I wont go into It again here.

Next up my eye shadow, isn't it beautiful! you are looking at  Urban Decay The Feminine Palette. The palette has six colors and a lip gloss all in a cute case that zips up with a little mirror inside :) For this look I used shades Skimp and Bordello.

To complete my eye look I used Mac Plush Lash now anyone who has read any of my posts will know I'm a they're Real fan and I'm not saying that this will replace It but this mascara gives a lovely long full lash while keeping the look much softer and natural looking than the other mascara can manage.

My final addition was Clinique Chubby Stick in shade Oversized Orange.
Orange is everywhere now and I'm really liking It, this gives you the look without committing as much as you would with a lipstick so again keeps it all on the natural theme I'm going along!

Hope you enjoyed the post, the next one face in products 5, is my last in this series but I have already started on an even more exciting one that I hope you will all love.
You can find me on twitter @clareken86
I'm now on Instagram too: sparkleblossombeauty
If you like the series leave a comment so I can plan more :)