Starting Off: Mascara

Mascara is a holy grail product for me and I will never, ever leave the house without it. Even on my 'makeup-free' days I'll have a sparse coat of mascara. I honestly feel naked without it.

I think that mascara if a pretty straight-forward and simple beauty product. Really there are only 2 main types of mascara; waterproof and non-waterproof. You hear and see all sorts of claims from the beauty industry - this mascara is lengthening, volumising, doesn't clump, lasts 16 hours... but honestly, I feel that it all comes down to trial and error. The best thing to do is just try a few mascaras and see which you prefer. It took me almost 8 years to find my perfect mascara!

So without further ado please let me introduce you to my soul mate, my one and only, the piece de resistence that is the Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion mascara.

So I've been using this mascara for quite some time now. Every now and then I might have a fling with some faddy new product on the scene but I always go back to this. The brush is quite fat and the bristles are more flexible than other mascaras. For me, this coats my lashes to perfection and I've never experienced any smudging or flaking with this product. Since using this mascara I've had countless compliments on the length of my lashes.

I also own another essential mascara -waterproof. Waterproof mascara is perfect for holidays, warm weather, or times when you're likely to cry, such as weddings.

I have actually tried and tested this mascara at a funeral of all places, and it really did work. This Rimmel mascara does a pretty good job of separating and lengthening to lashes too. The only problem with waterproof mascara is that it is harder to remove at the end of the day.

So, onto application. I think application is pretty straightforward when it comes to mascara. Starting as close to the root as possible underneath the lashes glide upward towards the ends. To combat any clumps, move the mascara wand side-to-side slightly whilst moving upwards. I recently uploaded a 'My Makeup Routine' video on YouTube. Skip ahead to 13:25 to see the method I use to apply mascara.