Speed Review & Swatch Blinc Eyeliner (Black)

I’ve had this eyeliner for a while; I don’t know why I’ve not blogged about it sooner as it’s a great product. It’s beautifully pigmented, has a matte finish... and it really does stay put once it has set like it says it will. It does not fade, flake or smudge which is perfect for me as I’m a chronic re-offender when it comes to accidentally rubbing my eye because I’ve forgotten I put eyeliner on! To remove I find it best to use warm water to help slide the product off the eye area.

There is an element of skill to using it, as there is with any liquid eyeliner but if you generally know how to use one then you should have no problem with this.

The top (thinner) swatch shows a very quick swipe of the product as I wanted to show that it was still quite pigmented when this was done, the bottom is more to show a decent amount of product relative to what you'd expect to see on your eye (just not as thick)!

Available at Beauty Bay!

Blinc Heated Lash Curler!

I remember the days when curling your eyelashes meant holding a scissor-like clamp right on your lashes and *squeeeezing* them firmly to make sure they curled. I also remember the fear I felt that I may actually catch the eyelid with said clamp and really hurt myself; hence I didn’t really use them that much. Not to mention that the pressure used can actually damage the lashes, and that is not good news really. I am sure many other people got on perfectly well with them, but for me I was just not confident enough to use them regularly on myself.

Things have moved on a little since then and thankfully there is now a style of eyelash curler that I feel confident and comfortable using, all hail the heated lash curler. It seems like the obvious choice really, as we use heated appliances to curl and straighten the hair on our heads; so why not use heat to do our eyelashes too!

There are heated clamp style curlers available for those who are comfortable with that style, but also want the added benefit of heat to help ‘set’ the lashes but personally I feel like they’re double the danger for me.

The blinc heated lash curler in particular is a bit like a wand with a little comb head, and even though you don’t have the clamping action I feel you still get a decent curl from it. It uses a single AAA battery (included) and only takes 20-30 seconds maximum to heat up; you can see when they’re ready to use as the red indicator window at the back of the head of the wand turns to yellow.

To get a lovely curl that will last, all you have to do is ‘brush’ the comb up the lash whilst gently forcing the lashes back and then hold for a few seconds to 'set' them in place; start with the middle and then do the side lashes - it's as simple as that.

There is a safety guard that prevents the heat from being too close to the eye area, and the wand also delivers the ‘precise amount of heat that can set a long lasting curl without damaging your lashes’ so there’s no fear of singed eyelashes, thankfully.

The first curler that I was sent had a loose battery fitting (so the connection to connect the electrical circuit wasn’t able to be made, thus no worky) so that had to be replaced with another one that has worked perfectly. I am only mentioning this as it is something to consider when purchasing this product; it’s not something that I would say should stop you buying it as it is easily rectified as you can check right after purchase/delivery (depending how you buy it) and ask for it to be replaced if it is a unit with a dodgy connection.

This may not be for everybody, but personally I love it and will be using this heated wand from now on.

The blinc heated lash curler is available from Harvey Nichols and http://www.blincuk.co.uk at its official retail price of £18, or from having a quick glance on google I see you can get it cheaper at HQHair for £14.50 and BeautyBay for £15.75 so it’s worth having a shop around before you buy it.

Blinc Mascara!

Advantages: Stays put, great finish, easy to use, no flaking, bargain price, good colour choice

Disadvantages: Removing takes a bit of getting used to.

I've always had issues trying to find mascara that lives up to its claims; and I don't know about you, but I am sick of always seeing adverts for mascaras that are claiming to make your lashes super long and super thick, whilst having a disclaimer at the bottom saying that the lashes you see on the model were styled with inserts. Great, if professional makeup artists can't even make the lashes of a model look that good using these mascaras *without* the use of inserts then what hope do we mere mortals have?

I suppose I am quite lucky in that my lashes aren't *too* shabby, they're dark and generally noticeable to some degree even without any mascara on! I still find though, that a lot of mascaras don't really emphasise my lashes in the way they made me believe they would on the adverts and to me this is a big disappointment as when you spend your hard earned on something, you expect that it would do what it said it would do.

I found out about the blinc brand whilst browsing online and thought it sounded great... mascara that doesn't just paint your eyelashes, it tubes them. Yes that's what I said, TUBES them! What it does is creates little waterproof tubes around your lashes, and once applied (and set) the tubes apparently cannot run, smudge, clump or flake... even if you end up crying whilst wearing it, or do what I do and forget about your carefully applied eye makeup when you start rubbing your eyes.

Applying the mascara is very easy; you just need to make sure you move the wand sideways as well as back to front to make sure your eyelashes are not going to set when they're stuck together. If you're used to putting on normal mascara then you really shouldn't have any problems in applying this successfully.

You have about 2 minutes to get all the coats that you want on before the product starts to set and you can no longer apply any more, this is plenty of time to me as I found that I didn't actually need that many coats as I may have done with other brands of mascara that I have tried. The mascara does need longer to dry than any other I have used, so you need to be aware of this before you start messing with things or blinking excessively.

The brush is a big asset to this product as it is quite thin so is more precise when you apply the mascara, it also has a comb like effect that separates lashes as you apply the product and also allows you to get to the shorter and harder to reach inner lashes without either poking yourself in the eye, or getting mascara on your freshly done foundation and/or eye shadow; thus requiring you to restart your makeup!

Once the mascara has set, your eyelashes do feel a bit plastic to the touch but you get used to this quite quickly and it doesn't feel weird on your actual eye when blinking etc. The finish of the mascara was amazing, I was actually really shocked to see how long my lashes looked - and I hadn't even used any primer, in fact after trying it with my Clinique lash building primer I actually preferred it without; however as this isn't your usual kind of mascara this could be why I preferred it without the primer. Blinc do a primer, which may be formulated to work better with this kind of mascara so I would recommend that if you wanted more volume in your lashes than this mascara provides on its own, that you should be looking to get this primer above any others for use with this mascara.

I put its staying power to the test accidently by rubbing my eye without even thinking about it... panic set in, I knew I had mascara on but forgot it was this one so was expecting the worst. Thankfully I was wearing this as it had not budged, not even one millimetre - hallelujah, finally mascara that stays put! It can be used every day if you wish with no adverse effects to your lashes, and will actually last the full day without any loss of impact of the effect it creates. This is perfect for those people who don't have chance, or inclination to keep reapplying their makeup through the day; for those that go from work to the pub or even for brides on their wedding day.

I really couldn't believe it when I found that I could apply it in the morning and it still be looking like I'd just applied it when it was well after midnight. I have actually (accidently) slept in it after wearing it and forgetting to remove it (blame the alcohol that night) and it was still in its place the next morning, now if that isn't impressive then I don't know what is.

The longer lasting formula also applies to the product whilst in the tube, because of its chemical formulation it does not dry out as quickly as traditional oil based paint mascaras.

To remove the mascara you need warm water and a bit of gentle pressure from your fingers or a washcloth to tease and then slide the tiny tubes off your lashes. There's no residue left once removed, and it is suitable for those with sensitive eyes and also those who wear contact lenses. It also does not drag your eyelashes out when you take it off, which I admit I was worried about; I mean I want nice looking lashes when using mascara but not at the expense of them being pulled out of the skin, never to be seen again. This does still take a bit of getting used to, but it's worth it as you save money on eye makeup remover by using this and money saved is always a bonus!

The retail price of the mascara is £18 but it's currently selling in boots at around £14.68 which is a total bargain. It's also available in a variety of colours including black, dark blue, medium brown, dark brown, dark green and dark purple and is not tested on animals. I was using the black one, which was sent to me by the lovely people at blinc to test and review for my website.

More information about the product is available on the website: Blinc UK

Summary: No more bad eyelash behaviour! Highly recommended.

Blinc Cosmetics!

The lovely people at Blinc cosmetics have sent me a box of goodies to test; I'll be posting my thoughts on each of the items up soon so be sure to follow me or subscribe to find out more.