This caught my eye on Boots website- it was in the offer section and the offer was a free eye shadow palette when you buy this mascara, plus a pound off the usual price of £6.51 or so. I decided to look at it the next day, when shopping for New Years Eve presents (its a tradition in our house to exchange presents on NYE), and spend my hard earned points on it.
One of the things that immediately appealed to me was the packaging- the black lace on pale pink background makes it look sexy without being tacky. I really like the style of the lettering on the package, and the name is quite amusing:
The wand is very comfortable to handle, and the brush is the right size for me- not too big not too small. The long bristles are stiff enough to rake through my lashes and give good definition, without being so sharp and hard as to poke me in the eye (happened a few times with other mascaras):
The main selling point of this mascara is the tiny fibres that cling to the brush (visible in above picture) and give you "the closest thing to false lashes"> I don't see that effect on myself, but it does lengthen well, and gives a slight curl to my otherwise straight lashes:
As a reference, my lashes au naturelle:
The difference in length is obvious, though I don't see much volume with this mascara, nor does this look like falsies. It doesn't build up that well either- starts to clump by second coat. It dries fast and makes lashes quite hard- not the one for soft, fluttery lashes. It doesn't smudge or flake, and washes away easily, just with warm water. Whilst it doesn't give false lash effect, or much volume, its great for length and definition, and is easily one of the best inexpensive mascaras I tried. Retails in Boots, with current price being £5.51 (normal price £6.51).
As for the palette- its very sturdy and has a good size mirror, which is very handy. The packaging is the same as with mascara and looks very nice:
It contains four smooth eyeshadows in neutral tones- light, sandy highlighter, two brown colours flecked with gold, and a charcoal crease colour:
All colours, except charcoal have a lot of shimmer in them, and even charcoal has a slight glow to it. All four shades are easy to apply, though there is some fallout.The tester palettes in Boots have all been smashed to smithereens, so I expect these eyeshadows to be fragile. I haven't really tested them for longevity, so can't comment on that.
Although I don't really do neutrals, I really like this palette- its nice for a quick and easy neutral eye look, but would also do a great a soft, smokey eye. The shades are easy to apply and blend and this palette is a very decent gift-with-purchase. Its not available separately and is not a part of permanent line (which is a shame, to me)
Another point I like to note- Boots have finally started to use shrinkwrap to package their products, so that they can't be opened by someone in the shop and used (my pet hate)
