Mascara: So you will probably know by now that I LOVE mascara, so this is the hardest choice for me to make, but one really stands out and that is Maybelline’s Lash Stiletto.  I am in love with this product, it doesn’t totally give me the thickness that I want and it smells a bit funky, but the amount of length that it gives is amazing! That coupled with the fact that it doesn’t clump or give you spider eyes makes this my favourite mascara of all time! (Too see full review please go to the mascara section of prettyhead).

Foundation: I didn’t know how to choose between No 7 Stay Perfect foundation and Maybelline’s Dream Satin Liquid, but after a long hard think I am going to go with the Dream Satin. This provides amazing coverage and the reason that it is my favourite is because of the price, £7.00 in the shops (and a lot cheaper on eBay), means that you are getting a great quality product for an affordable price, which in this economic climate is very important! It provides great coverage, is quite moisturising and lasts for a long time, everything that a foundation should be!

Eyeliner:  Ok so my winner in this category hasn’t been reviewed yet on prettyhead but it will be soon, I think Elizabeth Arden’s eyeliner pot (half blue half black), is amazing. It comes in a little tub, rather like lip balm, and you use the eyeliner brush provided in the set to apply. I paid £6.50 for it on eBay and it costs about £14 new, but I believe that it is worth every penny!

Lips: I would not be without Rimmel’s Shock Gloss, it hasn’t yet been reviewed on here, but it is awesome! It comes in 5 shades but clear is the best and it is super shiny, makes your lips look amazing! I love the applicator as well, instead of a little sponge on the end of the stick, it is a brush, which feels really nice against your lips as you apply. At only £3.99 in Superdrug Rimmel’s shock gloss is a bargin!

Skin: As far a skin care goes there is a clear winner, No 7 protect and perfect beauty serum! It is quite pricey but hey if it works (and scientists say it does!) then I would pay anything!

Hair care: Now this is where I have to cheat and pick 2, anyone that has read my hair care reviews will know that I swear by Pantene conditioner for dry and damaged hair, however a few months ago I discovered a little miracle. Dove’s heat defence therapy spray, designed to protect hair during heat styling, however it made my normally curly/wavy hair rather straight with just hair drying alone! This meant that I had to spend less time straightening and therefore managed to save my hair a little from the damaging effects of straightners. Also my hair held its style all day and all night and then the next day too! I am a huge fan now and have been converted from TRESemme!

So there you have it, those are the products that I love and couldn’t live without, there are loads more, including Barry M dazzle dust, but with so many colours I wouldn’t be able to pick just one! If you have a list of fav products you would like to share, feel free to email me at Faye@prettyhead.co.uk and I will do my best to put yours up here asap!

I am always temped by the MAC shop as I walk through Bath town centre, but as I am on a student budget it isn’t somewhere I frequent very often! So when I got money for my birthday I got very excited and decided that I was going to treat myself to some MAC products. I have to say that the girls working there are the friendliest and most helpful shop assistants I have ever come across, not only did they have to deal with me wanting to try all the products on but they also had my friend who needed a whole new set of makeup and look to go with her dress for the summer ball! So there I was like a kid in a sweet shop and somehow I managed to think rationally about the products that I needed. I decided that I always need lip gloss, foundation and mascaras so they would be at the top of my shopping list that day.

MAC Lipglass comes in a wide variety of shades to cater for all skin tones; if you can’t find a shade to suit you here I doubt that you ever will! Playing it safe I decided to go with original which is clear as I thought that it goes with everything and seen as I like to wear dark eye makeup it wouldn’t make me look too over done. The lipglass cost £14, which is more than you would expect to pay for a main stream brand such as Maybelline or Rimmel, but for a MAC product this price is average. MAC describe this as “lipcolour that dazzles with light and shine to bring an exciting dimensional pop to your lips. Large particle pearls reflect and refract light to mimic the brilliance of quartz and opal crystal. Provides exceptional shine with a crystalline iridescence. Non-sticky, non-tacky, lightweight and moisturizing. Glides on. Wear alone, or layer over lipstick or Lipglass for dramatic effect.”

The first thing I noticed about this lipgloss was the vanilla smell which is apparently a trademark of MAC glosses. The gloss went on really smoothly and as MAC states it didn’t feel sticky at all. I wouldn’t say that my lips had a “dimensional pop” going on, however they really did stand out as they were so shiny. I tried it both on its own and over my favourite lipstick and both looks were gorgeous, however the brush was then covered in lipstick which doesn’t look very nice but didn’t noticeably alter the appearance of the lipglass when put on bare lips. The staying power of this was quite amazing too, after an hour my lips looked just as glossy as when I first applied. As for being moisturising, this lipgloss moisturised my lips to an extent, but if I had seriously dry and chapped lips I would opt for a lipbalm or lipgloss instead.

Pros: Very glossy and shiny, looks great and has great staying power

Cons: The price?

I bought this lip gloss for £5 from ebay (see links below), which is actually very cheap as I have seen this retailing from £7.99 to £12.99 in various shops. This product comes in a pink, retro, cardboard package that is designed to almost look like a newspaper headline that says “WORLD EXCLUSIVE- Lip size found crucial for sexual attraction”. The gloss itself comes in a plastic tube with a regular sponge applicator; it has quite a nice smell almost like chocolate. The lip gloss goes on easily, however it’s quite sticky and the colour is a bit darker than what I would have considered to be nude. After a few seconds it starts to tingle, this sensation gets stronger for the first few minutes and as I look in the mirror I think I can see my upper lip looking a tiny bit bigger! I didn’t take measurements or anything so this could have been totally psychosomatic, especially as I thought that I could feel something happening. After 5 minutes my lips most definitely didn’t look 10 times bigger than when I had started and to be honest I doubt anyone’s would! Also on a random note, could you imagine if it did actually work how stupid you would end up looking with lips 10 times their normal size?! The lip gloss lasted for a good 2 hours before it needed reapplying, it wasn’t very shiny or very nude, but did give a nice subtle look to the lips. I generally like my lips to look glossy, so in future I would buy this is clear instead of nude, however I am not disappointed with the purchase as I didn’t pay full price. I do wonder whether you might get the same effect with other cheaper lip plumping glosses, especially as the price gets bumped up because it has the ‘Soap and Glory’ name attached to it.

I would recommend this to anyone wanting a natural make up look or for people wanting bridal make up as it enhances your natural lip colour and size without making it look totally unnatural. I wouldn’t recommend you buying your first tube from a shop as it is a lot of money to waste if you don’t like it, ebay is where I have seen it the cheapest – links at the bottom of the page.

Pros: The lip gloss smells nice almost like chocolate, it is easy to apply, seems to increase lip size a bit, it looks nice when it is on the lips and it lasts for a while.

Cons: The gloss is quite expensive, does not live up to its claims of 10 times bigger lips and the shade nude is darker than what most would consider to be nude.

This range was bought out for Christmas 2008 and cost £3.99 at the time of purchase, they later went on sale for 99p and I am not sure if The Body Shop still do it, however they might be bought back for this Christmas so keep your eyes peeled! The lip balm comes in a white plastic little pot with a dark purple sticker on the front that has Christmassy looking gold stars on. The white sticker on the bottom can be pealed open to reveal a list of ingredients, which is useful for people that are sensitive to certain chemicals. There are no instructions on any of the labels, but lets be honest, most people know how to apply lip balm! The lip balm itself has a very strong, mouth watering smell that’s more like blackcurrants than plums. It is a very dark purple colour and there are visible shimmery bits, that although visible aren’t giant blobs of glitter like you get in makeup for kids! You can use either a lip brush or your finger to apply the product; I opted for my finger as it’s generally easier though maybe a bit messier. The balm when on your finger is a much lighter shade of purple than it is in the pot, and the shimmery bits look even better, so don’t let the dark colour of the balm when in the pot put you off – it doesn’t come out that colour when on your lips! It is very moisturising when on the lips, probably due to the inclusion of organic beeswax and a little bit goes a very long way. The shimmery bits look very nice and subtle; the colour however is relatively dark and so I would only recommend using a tiny bit of this product if you are fair skinned. If you have an olive to dark skin tone I think you could get away with using quite a bit of the lip balm with good results. The lip balm makes your lips look quite glossy, something that I was not expecting from a balm and I could still feel it on my lips for an hour after application. Despite feeling very moisturising, it didn’t really have a big, visible effect on any of the dry and chapped bits on my lips, which is normally what you buy a lip blm for.

Pros: It smells nice, is handbag sized and lasts a long time. It feels moisturising, gives a glossy finish and would look really good on olive to dark skin tones.

Cons: It is too dark for pale skin tones unless lightly applied, it isn’t really for people wanting to achieve a natural makeup look, it didnt have a noticable effect on my chapped lips and the smell can get quite sickly after a while.

I put this lip slave on my normal to slightly dry lips, applying more than I normally would and there wasn’t a noticeable difference in the colour. However my lips felt very moisturised, more than they do when using Vaseline, a little tin of which is basically the same price as this lip balm. When compared to the tins of Vaseline that a lot of women now days like to use, this lip balm can be applied with no mess what so ever, to use you simply remove the cap and twist the bottom of the stick, where Vaseline needs to be applied with a finger leaving a lot of mess. There wasn’t much of a shine on my lips, however they did look a bit healthier and the chapped bits felt and looked much better after just one application. After about 30 minutes the effect seemed to have worn off and my lips were left feeling quite dry, however bits that were dry and nasty looking before the first application looked better.

I would recommend this product for people who normally buy the Nivea lip balms as the effect is pretty much the same and both have the same staying power and quantity however you save a pound! It would also be good for someone looking for good wedding make up or aiming for a natural make up effect as it makes you look healthy without being over the top and adding an unnatural colour to your lips. I have been using this lip balm every day for the past few months and I still haven’t run out, so it really is good value for money. I would say that this is definitely a hand bag essential and will from now on replace my little tin of vasaline, especially in the winter months when lips are more likely to get chapped and dry.

I tried to get some pics of this lip salve on my lips, but even with my good camera I couldn’t get a picture that accurately showed the effect that this has and I wouldn’t want to put anyone off buying it. Normally I would recommend buying a product cheaply off of ebay (links on page) if it is your first try of it, however for 98p you haven’t lost much if you don’t like it.

Pros: Cheap, easy to use, very moisturising, lasts as long as the leading brand, gives a nice natural effect, handbag sized and has a noticeable improvement on chapped dry bits.

Cons: No smell/taste, (it will never compete with carmex lip balm on that front!), it doesn’t add much colour to the lips, so could not be used as a lipstick and it only last about 30mins, less if you’re eating or drinking, but this is the same as its main competitor Nivea.