BEAUTY: Why I've gone back to drugstore products

I used to be all about the luxury.  Whether it was the act of saving up (ok or more likely diving headfirst into my overdraf) and spending a small fortune on something luxurious that was now all MINE, the sophistication of the packaging, or the feeling of owning something that was definitely considered High End, I don't know, but I loved every aspect of it.

Realistically, however, with only a few exceptions, I have been disappointed time and time again with my overly-priced products.  As I said - there are a few exceptions - Liz Earle skincare and Skin Tint (I have yet to try other products from their makeup range), Urban Decay shadows (I <3 Naked 4eva) and eyeliners, and .. yeah that's pretty much it!

To give you my current examples of total HE failures...

Dior - Diorshow Blackout mascara

Now, I don't want to criticise this mascara completely - when it was good it was very good, if that makes sense! However, after owning this mascara for ~6months the wand now looks something like this:

Yeah.  I kid you not.  The bristles have just gone down completely flat, except for the base and the tip.  And it doesn't matter how often I clean it so it looks normal again, as soon as I stick it back into the mascara, it reverts back to this.  I know I have no leg to stand on - you're not 'supposed' to use a mascara for more than 6 months due to potential risk of infection yadda yadda yadda, but we all do, right! But I have NEVER known a wand to look like this.  So this £22.50 mascara will never be applied again - it is in fact unusable!  
I'm going back to Maybelline thank you....

Shampoos and Conditioners (and all hair products really!)

Over the years I have really been a hair snob (can you tell?).  I shuddered at my boyfriend's Herbal Essences and crossed myself whenever a friend raved on about H&S/Pantene (ok I still do that).  Some of the brands I have used include - Kerastase, Macadamia Natural Oil, Redken, Tigi S Factor, Tigi Bedhead, KMS California, Wella, Orofluido, Aveda.... the list goes on.  
With the exception of Tigi S Factor Diamond Dreams (which I now don't use because the once-delicious strawberries+cream scent now is overly sickly because I used it for so long!) and Aveda Madder Root (which I can't use because it'll deposit red pigments into my Cuella de Ville *cringe* hair),  I was disappointed with the lot of them. Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment made my hair really really really weighed down so I gave it to my sister.  Wella products gave me an allergic reaction to the extent that 6 months after using it I still have an itchy and sensitive scalp!

Anyway, I could complain all day, but basically Tresemmé Vibrantly Smooth shampoo and conditioner has made more of a positive difference to my hair than anything I've ever used.  I love it so much I could write about it all day.  What I've realised, particularly with the Macadamia Oil, is that my hair really can't take silicones - they make it weighed down and greasy-looking, yet really dry and dehydrated when I wash it off.  I also would recommend to everyone to NEVER USE SULPHATES.  On your face, body or hair.  'Mkay?  I could, and maybe someday will, dedicate an entire blog post to this ingredient of Satan.  Anyway, this Tresemme s&c are cone free and reduced sulphates.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  They leave my hair soft, frizz-free and totally manageable :)



Basically, I am giving up on buying any more HE products.  My Naked palette, 24/7 pencils, and my Liz Earle products can stay until I finish/hit pan.  But really next time I will probably try out Purity Skincare, which is supposed to be as natural and organic as Liz Earle, at a fraction of the cost.  I am also going to stop using my Chanel lippies, which fade really quickly and dry my lips out, and replace them with some of the exciting new Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stains, which I have been hearing so many good things about on the blogosphere.

What have you guys found? Have high pricetags guaranteed you good quality of product, or have you been left disappointed like me?

Xxxx

REVIEW: Diorshow Mascara - Backstage Makeup

I had pretty much given up on me ever having fluttery lashes without bringing out the falsies.  Mascara has never been my friend - I've tried Badgal, MAC Zoomlash and countless drugstore mascaras, but never ever had any decent eyelashes.

I got a £25 Debenhams gift voucher for Xmas, and decided I was going to get a High End mascara with it, in a desparate last quest for pretty lashes.  I decided on Diorshow Blackout mascara, but the sales assistant gave me Diorshow original by mistake!  I didn't realise I had the wrong one for about a week, but after that time I was so in love with it I didn't care.

(Image courtesy of www.debenhams.com; Diorshow mascara £22)

This mascara, this little tiny tube, has performed miracles.  It has given eyelashes, making me feel much better about my looks and my makeup.  I will definitely repurchase again and again, purely because it has succeeded in giving me lashes; something I had given up on!!

Want the proof? Left eye (as you look at me) is Maybelline False Lash Effect.  As you can see it gives me pathetic lashes just like every other mascara as ever done.  Right eye is Diorshow mascara, the Miracle Worker ;)

 Excuse the lack of makeup elsewhere! I wanted to give an idea of what the mascara looks alone

 Maybelline False Lash Effect...

Diorshow...

  And with my eyes closed.

My opinion? It's love!! And it looks soo much better in person than it does with a camera shoved in my face.. this seems to highlight all the imperfections (and makes my nose look huge, what's with that!!).  My one problem is that the brush is really really big, so I'm still a bit clumsy with applying the mascara. I have to have a Q-tip in my other hand to clean up the black smears from under my eyes that appear when the brush touches my skin.  I still feel it's worth it though as I never get any smudging etc during the day - when it's on your lashes it stays on your lashes, until you attack with eye makeup remover.  I really feel like it really makes you look like you're wearing falsies.  

Like I said, it really works.  9.5/10 from me ;) I took off 0.5 because of the big brush)