2012: the year in photos

Clearly enjoying myself at a meal with the girls.

Sixth form history trip to Poland.

Elliot & I at a friend's birthday.

Yet another meal.

Animal social.

17th birthday.

Oh look, out for dinner again!

Family photo from my brother's wedding in June.

My gorgeous baby cousin.

Shots for the first of our group to turn 18!

My outfit for my work's Christmas do.

Elliot enjoying his Christmas present from me.

Elliot & I dressed as Amy Winehouse & Redfoo (LMFAO) for New Year.

I hope you've all enjoyed 2012 as much as I did & that 2013 is just as wonderful for everyone.

Aimée

xx

Review: Maybelleine The Falsies mascara

I've been using this mascara for about a week now & I absolutely love it! As you can see the packaging is so cute - a gorgeous deep pink with a black lace design, making it stand out in your makeup bag.

The wand is curved and the packaging tells you to use the concave part to apply the mascara which works well on the upper lashes, however I find that to apply to my lower lashes and the lashes on the inner corner of my eyes the tip and the convex part work much better as if I were to use it the suggested way on the lower lash line I would end up with mascara all over my skin which isn't really the look I'm going for..

The actual product is superb, the consistency is quite wet which I know some people aren't too keen on, but for me it is great. As it is a wet formula I find that you can keep going over it until you get your desired look without making it clumpy.

The mascara really does live up to its name and gives you the look of false lashes. Obviously subtle false ones as no mascara could give you super sparkly ott lashes now could it? I normally go for volume in a mascara but have recently gotten back into wearing liquid eyeliner on my eyes and like to have long looking lashes for that look as otherwise it tends to look like I have none...

If I had to rate this I'd probably give it 9/10 as it gives amazing length and keeps the length of the lashes all day! Despite only having been using it for about a week I have absolutely fallen in love with this mascara and it's my new favourite! I would have given it a 10 if it weren't for the fact that by the end of the day there are sometimes little flakes under my eyes, this could, however, be my fault as I quite often touch my eyes and stuff.

Have you used this product? What's your favourite mascara?

Review: HD Brows Eye & Brow Palette

If you read my July favourites post then you may well be aware that I've been using my new HD Brows palette recently and I've been absolutely loving it!

I received the palette in my July GlossyBox and mine is in Foxy, which is clearly aimed at girls with darker hair colours, therefore is perfect for me! It comes in simple yet gorgeous packaging, the design being sleek and sophisticated in the all-black, glossy case with white lettering. The packaging definitely gives it that 'up-market' feel and just reeks of glamour!

Inside are four shades; nude, warm brown, dark brown and carbon. These shades make the palette suitable to a range of people as they go from almost black to a much lighter brown. The nude shade is perfect to use as a highlight under the brow as well as to run around the edges to cover up any slight mistakes rather than slathering on the concealer!

For me the carbon shade is much, much too dark so I keep well away from that. I've found that the perfect colour for me is a mix of the two medium shades - warm and dark brown - however neither are too light or dark for me to use them individually. I tend to change what I use depending on my mood & what makeup I'm wearing that day, for example today I'm only wearing mascara on my eyes so I've gone for the dark brown on my brows, whereas if I were wearing a lot of eye makeup I would go for the lighter shade to balance everything out.

The brush that comes with the palette is surprisingly good. I never normally use the brushes given as they aren't always very good quality, however this one exceeds expectations. The bristles on the angled brush are solid enough that you can achieve a very defined look first time without having to go back and make corrections. Also the brush is thin enough to go all the way to the tips of your brows without them staying thick, giving a very feminine look. The rounded brush is slightly more flexible which works great when you're applying the highlight as you don't want it to be quite as precise.

(L-R) Warm Brown, Dark Brown, Carbon.

(Nude is just so nude that it wouldn't show up in the swatches, sorry!)

Another great thing about the colours is that they can also be used as eyeshadows, giving a great look if you'd rather have a matte finish to your eyes. When used on the eyes they blend superbly and last all day (even without primer!). I'd recommend using the three lighter shades as eyeshadow and then if you wanted to then use carbon as a liner along the upper lash line.

(T-B) Warm Brown, Dark Brown, Carbon.

(Nude is just so nude that it wouldn't show up in the swatches, sorry!)

Overall, I've really enjoyed using this palette and would definitely recommend it to all brunettes. If you have different hair colours then they also do the palette in Vamp & Bombshell. Each palette can be found here for £19.96, a little pricey but in my eyes it's definitely worth it!

Have you ever used any HD Brows products? If so what were they and would you recommend them?

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with HD Brows and they have not asked me to review this product. I am purely reviewing it because I've enjoyed using the products and am receiving no money or rewards/benefits for writing this review.