You know when you’ve found a staple eyeliner and you think that life couldn’t get any better.  Imagine that life could, when a whole range of new colours come out…

Urban Decay’s famous 24/7 liners shrank at Christmas for a limited edition collection for gifting (keeping?!) purposes, but they’ve now brought out a whole load more.

I have in my hands, Binge, a dirty denim blue that shimmers and smoulders, Mildew, a khaki green that really looks great on hazel eyes, and my the new love of my life, Oilslick, a deep dark charcoal with their famous hint of glitter.

Nothing is lost with these new colours, (also available, Crash, Stash, Yeyo and Rockstar), they’re still just as smooth and soft, yet fantastically long lasting.

What I adore about these new colours is that they’re muted compared to the original collection.  That means that Urban Decay have cornered the eyeliner market, with something for everyone, genius in my book…!

I’m chuffed to bits that there are more to the collection, my pro kit just hasn’t got the room.  Oh well, best get another case then for the overflow…

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

What a bargain! This little beauty is only £2.99 available from Superdrug. I tested it in Cocoa which is a dark brown colour. So far I have been wearing this since 8am today and it has not budged! I’ve even deliberately rubbed my eyes to see if it moves and nothing! 
It has made my lashes appear thicker at the roots and slightly longer in length. I will definitely be buying one of these in their other colour ranges which are Black and Xtra Black. 

Kelly hollands

Sam gave this to me at IMATS to try out and at first I didn’t think much of it. I applied 2 coats and by the end of the day there was no sign of mascara and didn’t look like I was wearing anything. But I’ve found using about 5 coats does the trick – a bit annoying when you’re trying to get ready for work – but in order for this product to work you have to layer it on. Doing that I can definitely see I’m wearing mascara and my lashes looks fairly good. This mascara didn’t clump…separated my lashes and it actually has staying power! 

Last night I went for a run (I forgot to take my make-up off before hand) and I had visions of coming back with panda eyes…but no….it stayed put and I was most impressed. 

The packaging of this does look a bit cheap but retailing at around £3.49 I wouldn’t expect anything fancy. I think for that price you get what you pay for but I was pleasantly surprised. I do think this is a good holiday mascara when you don’t fancy taking your expensive Dior with you.

Normally, when the MAF team write reviews on products, its either on a seasonal collection as a whole, or individual products on their own.

Today, I’m changing that by writing a review for Lancome Mascaras as a group of their own!

I can’t remember how long ago it was that I first started consciously buying Lancome mascara, probably well over 10 years ago.  It’s certainly about 5 years since Marie Claire quoted me recommending them – see here!

The mascaras are such a reliable product that I know that no matter which one I choose to buy, I know it will deliver.  It’s a no-brainer with Lancome.  They do what they claim to do.  The lengthening mascaras do actually lengthen, and the thickening ones do make your lashes thicker.

Whats perfect, particularly for me, where I use a lot of Waterproof products, is that the WP versions of the Lancome mascaras deliver the same results as the originals.  Nothing is lost in translation.

My professional kit is full of them, from Fatale to Virtuose, with L’Extreme and the new Hypnose Drama.  I have the originals and the waterproofs, I’ve got every conceivable colour. 

What I really love about their mascaras though is that its all about the product, and not so much about the brush.  Yes, they do all have different brushes, which are an added dimension bonus, but its more about what the product is like inside the bottle, and as a pro makeup artist, using disposables often means that you have little choice over the mascara wand.  Lancome mascaras don’t let you down, no matter which brush you’re using.

And for me?  My personal favourite is L’Extreme for full on long lashes!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Inspired by the upcoming Disney film, Alice In Wonderland, scheduled for release in February 2010, Urban Decay today unveils its upcoming line of eye shadows as an Underland inspired dream come true. The book of 16 gorgeous eye shadow shades was inspired by Alice’s whimsical and colorful adventure — a “curiouser and curiouser” hike through twisted vines and skyscraping toadstools.

 The limited-edition palette opens to a playful pop-up scene of Alice and her journey through the mushroom forest. Having just ingested the contents of the fabled “drink me” bottle, Alice has shrunk down to a tiny size and is staring upward toward gigantic mushrooms and one very peculiar caterpillar. The mirror rests in the background, transporting you into the film itself. The book-like cover is adorned with a lush black pattern and copper foil deco with teacup details.

 “Tim Burton’s interpretation of the classic story of Alice In Wonderland will excite Disney fans in a whole new way and spark demand for edgier products inspired by the story’s heroine and her fantastical world,” said Johanna Mooney, director, Health & Beauty for Disney Consumer Products. “Disney Consumer Product’s collaboration with Urban Decay marks a continued emphasis on bringing beauty products to consumers that resonate with their sense of style and highlight current trends and color palettes,” said Mooney.

 The limited-edition Alice In Wonderland-inspired Book of Shadows includes 16 best-selling eye shadows, as well as two travel sizes of 24/7 Eye Pencils and one Eyeshadow Primer Potion. Disney and Urban Decay worked together to develop names for the eye shadows reflective of the many topsy-turvy people and things in Underland: Underland, Alice, Oraculum, Queen, Chessur, White Rabbit, Wonderland, Curiouser, Muchness, Mushroom, Midnight Tea Party, Vorpal, Absolem, Drink Me, Eat Me, Mad Hatter, Jabberwocky.

“When we met with Disney and heard about Tim Burton’s vision of Alice in Wonderland, we were so excited to create a palette that reflected his distinctive interpretation of the story,” said Wende Zomnir, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Urban Decay Cosmetics. “We dove into the project, working on shade names inspired by the film, and recreating the journey through the mushroom forest; it’s our way of giving an edgy and modern spin to this classic, but dark and curious story,” Zomnir said.

The Alice In Wonderland-inspired Book of Shadows from Urban Decay (£28) is available in February 2010, exclusively at Debenhams and www.debenhams.com

Help is at hand for overplucked brows

The newest addition to Blinc’s range of best selling products is this ‘Fountain of Youthful Colour’ Eyebrow Mousse, designed to give fullness and colour to sparse brows.  As well as the long lasting colour formula, the mousse also has anti-ageing properties so that the skin beneath your brows benefits too.

I love that all Blinc products come in the cute little tins which appeals to the packaging geek in me and the eyebrow mousse is no different.  It looks like your regular mascara wand and the information leaflet tells you to start by brushing the wand through your brows to build up the colour and then to use the tip of the wand to add fullness where you need it.  Now my brows have never been the same since I plucked them all out back in the late 80’s and it would take a lot to drag me away from my trusty Clinique brow pencil that I use daily.  However, after trying this mousse, I could well be converted.

After playing around with it for a while, I find that the best way to get an even colour and thickness is to use an angled brush (like the Mac 208).  It’s hard to get a definite line with the Blinc wand as it deposits too much product in one go and using an angled brush gives much more control.  Once you get some colour on your brows it dries solid and is VERY hard to shift once it’s on, so it’s best to start slowly and gradually build it up.  The best thing about this is that once you’ve applied it, it sets and just won’t budge which is great if you’re a compulsive face-toucher and eye-rubber like me!  Even with makeup remover, you still have to give it a good rub to get it to come away and it will last you through a good session in the gym too as it is completely sweat, heat and smudge proof.

It comes in six colours: black, light blonde, dark blonde, auburn, light brunette and dark brunette so there’s bound to be a colour that will suit everyone.  Retailing at £16.50 , it’s not the cheapest brow product out there but definitely worth looking at if you need a hard working brow product that won’t let you down.

Rochelle O’Brien

www.rochelleobrien.com

Have you heard of Barbara Bort cosmetics?  I hadn’t before I met Sophie Spark at Olympia in London.  The owner of Sparkle Cosmetics, Sophie and her team import a fantastic range of makeup from Italy.

I’m always a little dubious about companies that import brands and are basically distributors, but Sophie’s enthusiasm for the brand captured my attention and made me stay and find out more.

Their products are not in the prettiest of packaging, it’s fairly ‘functional’ but then, who needs expensive packaging, isn’t it about the content and what’s inside?

Available through beauty salons and party plan, you can actually buy the products direct from Sparkle Cosmetics.  Personally, I feel selling through beauty salons is a mistake for this brand, their products are fantastic, and sadly, beauty salons and party plan products don’t have the reputation for being great, and it’s a shame to see such a good set of makeup ‘tarnished’ with the same brush.

I just want to quickly add that not ALL beauty salon and party plan brands are of poor quality, but there are enough that are, to give the rest the bad name.  One bad apple….

I like glitter, I like shimmer, I’m probably far too old for both, but I was very excited to get playing with the makeup that I brought away with me.

As I said before, the packaging isn’t the greatest, and I was (wrongly) dubious about the quality, despite my excitement for the sparkle and glitter, but I shouldn’t have been.  The eyeshadow duo lasted incredibly well, from an 8am application through to an 11pm removal, without creasing.  Not a smudge, not a shift, not a crease.  The one I had is perhaps a tad too shiny for someone past about 30, but they have a great collection of matte and light sheen shadows aswell as the pearlised.

What sold it for me though was the glittering eyeshadow.  I use loose glitter frequently in my job, however, by the very nature of it being ‘loose’ well, it just gets everywhere, and anyone who’s worked with glitter will know that once it’s in the wrong place, you’re done for.  You might think you’ve got all the excess off, but that rogue piece that only appears under certain lighting, strategically placed on the end of your nose, completely wipes out the stunning look you previously created.

I remember an ocassion when I’d been shopping with a friend, we both bought a palette of 9 shadows that included a couple of glitter based shadows.  She told me a few days later that she’d put her makeup on that morning in half light (she starts work early!) and had unfortunately had to dismiss someone from their job later that day.  She was rather mortified to visit the ladies later that day to find that there was glitter all over her cheeks.

But back to the Barbara Bort glitter shadow.  This does not move.  It sticks to your brush and then sticks to your eyes.  It doesn’t wander, doesn’t move, doesn’t fall out, just sits there.  And isn’t that what we want?  Well of course, because in our own lives and on a set, who wants to be touching up eyemakeup.

So for me, I will recommend this brand, and will certainly direct others to buy it.  It’s not a well known brand, so you’ll have to trust me in that it’s worth investigating further.

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Getting a sharp straight line with liquid eyeliner, on yourself, is virtually impossible.  I’m a big fan of using black liner very close to lashes to make them look thicker and longer, without the need to use false lashes or an overkill of mascara.

All very well, when you’re lining someone else’s eyes, you can get them to close their eyes, and you can gently pull their brow up to make the skin taught to get a really crisp line very close to the lash roots, but try doing that on yourself and you’ll be pulling the strangest expressions in the mirror and you’ll end up with a wonky line!

And with most liquid liners, you get a flippy floppy brush that you can only do ‘flicky’ lines with or really thick intense lines, you can’t get a really sharp precise line that’s extremely close to the lashes.

This is where Barry M comes in.

The liquid liner is that, it’s a liquid and you dip your wand into it, but its a penstyle wand, like colouring pens of our youth!  It’s not a brush!  You get absolute total control over the brush direction, you can use the very tip for a tiny fine line, or you can press a little harder to get a thicker look.

What makes this different to other ‘penstyle’ liners is that you have to dip the end into the actual liquid, getting a fresh amount each time.  Other pen types have the product behind the end, much like a traditional pen.  Fine if you’re wearing absolutely no makeup, whatsoever on your eyelids, but not matter how much or little  eye makeup you have on before you start lining your eyes, those ‘other’ pens end up with a dirty nib!  All covered in makeup and dusty and just not clean!

I’ve used the Barry M liquid liner pen for many many years, and without fail, I always recommend it when I’m teaching, or when I’m working on a client and they want to know how to achieve the ‘invisible’ line themselves!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

As a makeup artist, I regularly get asked the question ‘What’s your favourite makeup brand’.  Far too difficult a question to be able to answer, I love and use many brands and many products for many and varied reasons.  But when someone says ‘What is your favourite eyeshadow’ that’s a far easier question, and without fail, I always say ‘Estee Lauder make the best eyeshadow singles on the market’.

The colours are true and pure, the product itself is baked in a perfect way, you get very little crumble and very little waste.

The shimmers aren’t excessive and the mattes aren’t too flat.  They’re just perfect.

I do an awful lot of teaching, and many of my clients are a bit stumped with the basics when looking for neutral colours to suit their eye colours.  For those that don’t know, if you have blue eyes, look for soft ‘foody’ based browns, like creams, caramels, chocolates and biscuity colours, for those with brown and hazel eyes, go for natural browns, like sand, dirt, earth, brick etc.

Estee Lauder makes it simple.  They haven’t got fancy and pretentious (meaningless!) names for their eyeshadows, the names are reflective of the colours in the pan.

For our blue and grey eyed ladies, they have foody colours of Vanilla, Ginger Drop, Tea Biscuit and Praline, amongst others.  And for our Brown and Hazel eyed ladies, the natural colours have names like Ivory, Smokey, Bronze Cube and Copper Penny.

It takes the rocket out of the science and demystifies the makeup counter.

And in case you were wondering, that also applies to the other colours.  Choose ‘man made’ colours for blue eyes (go for Pink Ice, not Rose Confetti) and natural made colours for brown and hazel (go for Ivy, not Mint Ice!)

Although I preferred the packaging of the old pure colour shadows when they were in the cubes, purely because I could see the colours easier in my kit, I can actually stack the new flat shadows better and therefore get more in my kit…. definitely a good thing!

Sam Donald

www.samdonald.com

Okay, so we’ve all experienced panda eyes, and not just the morning after the night before!  Nope, we’ve all had that horrifying moment when we’ve nipped to the ladies in the middle of a date/meal/trip and discovered that our eyeliner is no longer eyeliner, but more cheekbone liner…

I was a regular for it, and permanently seemed to be checking in my handbag mirror for tell tale signs of wandering liner.

I was having a nosey around the Dior counter one day and decided that I really ought to get a new brown liner for my kit, so I decided to try their Waterproof Crayon Eyeliner.  I use brown more than any, and at that point, wasn’t fussy about the brown, I just needed one that looked good and seemed to stay reasonably well.  Other Waterproof liners I’ve used are okay, just not the best in the world…

I was very pleasantly surprised by the colour richness of this particular brown, it’s a strong deep brown, with shades of chocolate and coffee running through it, so it’s great for blue eyed ladies who want to make the blue really stand out, but also for the brown eyed ladies who must have a nightmare trying to find the right shade of brown.  This seems to almost adapt to suit all colours!

Anyway, the bonus to this lovely creamy soft pencil, that smudges so beautifully and suits all?  It doesn’t move!  Yay!  at last!  A liner that claims to be waterproof and really is!

Doesn’t move, doesn’t wander, doesn’t shift!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com