#UltrabondChallenge

I love falsies. Whether to add a bit of drama to a look, or just to give that perfectly polished feel, there's no end to what lashes can do for your eyes and for your confidence. I don't, however, like the tricky process of applying. Once they're on, they look fantastic, but trimming them to size, making sure they match, and getting them to stay put are a bit of an ordeal that I usually just reserve for special occasions. Thankfully, Nouveau Lashes have formulated a great latex free glue which makes the lengthy application process a little more worthwhile. And last Bank Holiday weekend, I joined 50 bbloggers taking part in the #UltrabondChallenge, in which we put the Ultrabond Strip Lash Adhesive through its paces, spending 48 hours looking glam in our false lashes. Documenting the challenge in a couple of selfies, I'll be the first to admit, I was extremely sceptical, but I was far from the only one who made it to the end. So, here's to an amazing new lash glue, and let me tell you how I got on. 

Day 1:

After a busy day at work, I came home and applied the Nouveau Lashes. The glue is a little different than a normal adhesive, as it takes a while until it's ready to go on the lash line, and remains slightly tacky after application. Once I'd gotten used to this, however, I was away. The lashes themselves were great; super lightweight, and the perfect lash for dressing up for evening or just wearing casually throughout the day. It's a good job too, as I would be wearing them day and night for the duration of the weekend! After carefully taking off my makeup at the end of the night (the part I was most apprehensive about), the falsies hadn't budged.  Granted, I did use a micellar water and a very gentle touch, and I did have to remove a little cotton pad debris from the lashes. Still, an impressive feat for any lash glue.

Day 2:

The following day, I was pleased to wake up and discover that my lashes were still in place. After a very tentative shower, I readied myself for a 12 hour shift at work. And apart from a few comments about getting a little too dressed up for a day of serving drinks, the shift was uneventful, and the lashes behaved themselves for the whole 12 hours. Though the rest of my makeup was struggling by this point, my lashes were still going strong as I locked up for the night. 

Day 3:

The lashes were starting to come away at the corners by this point, but I managed to disguise this with some artfully placed liner. They comfortably lasted through a meal with friends and a sunny day at Southbank, and, after my final selfie, off they came. I used my normal Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish on my lids, and just gently cleansed until the lashes came off. It did feel good to really clean the mascara off after 48 hours of being super careful. I'm so impressed with how long the glue lasted, and the fact that the lashes looked almost as good on Day 3, as they did on Day 1. Understandably, they were looking slightly worse for wear, but overall, an amazing result from a wonderful glue.

Why would you want to wear lashes for this long, you might ask? The glue is actually formulated for those who suffer hair loss; the long lasting glue means that they will be able to wear lashes for days with none of the hassle of reapplying every morning. For those of us who just love a strong lashy look, however, I think this glue would make the ultimate addition to any festival make up bag. Even if you don't quite survive the weekend frivolities, your lashes will. 

The winners all received the generous prize of 5 pairs of Millie Mackintosh Lashes. With my new go to lash adhesive, I'll definitely be getting a lot of use out of these beauties! A huge thank you to Nouveau Lashes and Amazing PR for organising this fun, slightly different blogger challenge. If you want to read more about the glue and how other #bbloggers got on, just search #UltrabondChallenge on Twitter and Instagram. There are plenty of other great reviews to discover. The lash glue costs £12.95, and after testing it for a weekend, I can promise you that it's well worth the money.

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Something Beginning With... A: Ardell Lashes

A little while ago, I was flicking through a magazine (can't remember which one now, but I will add it when I find it again), and I came across a rather intriguing A-Z feature. As a blogger, I'm always on the lookout for inspiration, and this really captured my attention. I thought it would be fun to translate the feature into a blogging series, so that's exactly what I'm going to do. This post marks the start of a collection of 26, in which I will pick a new topic every week to correspond with each letter of the alphabet. Whether that be a brand, a product, a makeup technique, or something else entirely, I thought it would be such an interesting concept to explore, as well as being a new challenge for me. A little disclaimer: as I've already stated, I came across this in a magazine and it was wholly through my own ideas that I've decided to start featuring it on the blog. I haven't seen it elsewhere in the blogging community, although I don't doubt that, through sheer probability of numbers, someone has done it before me. So I just wanted to say that if you have done this also, I apologise - I'm not trying to take credit for somebody else's creativity - I just thought it would make a fun little project.

So here goes - the first of my brand spanking new series. Although I think I might struggle when I get to letters like Q, it was a pretty easy to decide on a topic for the first letter of the alphabet. There are plenty to chose from; great brands like Alpha H, or soothing ingredients like Aloe Vera, but I've chosen to go for something I haven't yet covered on this little old blog of mine; false lashes - namely my favourite lash brand, Ardell.

Their Demi Wispies seem to get the most coverage on YouTube and, although I do have some, I find them a bit too 'wispy' for my liking. Every one loves long, feathery lashes, but on me, these look so long and feathery that it borders on ridiculous. Having slightly hooded eyes and quite long lashes naturally, I tend to favour falsies that give me a bit of extra volume, and for that I find myself reaching for two particular Ardell offerings again and again.

The first, and my absolute favourite, are the Babies lashes. The perfect faux lashes for giving your real ones a little oomph whilst still looking fairly natural, I find that I can wear these for pretty much any occasion. Day or night, these are natural enough that you almost look as though you're just blessed with that fluttery framework,  but at the same time, they provide the a good amount of lift and really fill out the lash line. They give you that little something extra, without looking too fake, a quality I think we all desire in our falsies.

Still trying to work out how to make my camera pictures more true to life - they're a lot thicker looking than this really. P.S. I had a haircut! You like?

Secondly, I always have a pair of Demi Pixies to hand for when my glamorous night out look feels a little lacklustre. These are very much a statement lash when compared to the Babies, and I really feel like they help to take a makeup look from great to showstopping. They do add length, but the reason I reach for them so much is the thick, luscious feel they give to my eyelashes. They look a little odd in the packaging; thicker, choppy looking chunks of lash interspersed with more natural hairs, but when applied, this helps them to look less over the top and I think it's what keeps them from becoming too lengthy for me. They're the perfect lash for giving you that mesmerising gaze.

I've always found Ardell lashes easiest to apply. It's simply a matter of applying a small amount of adhesive, curling them around with your fingers a little, then resting them on the lashes with a pair of tweezers, manipulating them into the best position for your eye shape. Couldn't be simpler! Another pro is the invisible band, as I often like to wear falsies without eyeliner, particularly during the day, and this is something I absolutely couldn't get away with where other brands are concerned. I also find that having an invisible band means that you can reuse them more for some reason - I get about 4/5 uses out of a pair - fantastic value for money really! Just make sure to clean the band when you take them off, for ease of use the next time around.

And that completes the first of my 'Something Beginning With...' series. I hope you enjoyed it and I'm really looking forward to the next 25 posts! 

Do you like the idea of a 'Something Beginning With...' feature? What would be your 'something beginning with A' be? Are you a fan of Ardell Lashes? Let me know!

S.

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