High Street Mascara and Eyeliner

After having quite a spendy December and January I promised myself that I would keep to a tighter budget this month.  I wanted to buy a new mascara as the L'oreal Telescopic one I had been using was drying out a bit and I like to have more than one mascara on hand at a time.  I was determined to buy high street so went for a browse in our local department store.  One brand on sale here is called Manhattan, which when I looked it up is owned by the same company that produces Rimmel make-up.  I had noticed that some of their packaging was exactly the same, particularly their own version of the Rimmel Apocolips.  I quite like Rimmel products so I decided to check out a mascara from Manhattan as Rimmel is not so widely available here.
I took a look at all the brushes and settled on the Volcano Explosive Volume mascara as it had a nice big bristle brush, similar to brushes I have liked in the past.
I also wanted to try a liquid eyeliner again after not using liquid liner for ages in favour of eyeshadow or pen liner.  The reason I stopped using liquid liner was because it started to irritate the skin on my eyelids a little.  I was using the L'oreal Super Liner Eyeliner and loved it as it was so black, richly pigmented and easy to apply.  Possibly because I was wearing it everyday for many months I suddenly developed a slight reaction to it which was disappointing and unsurprisingly put me off liquid eyeliner for a while.
I decided I wanted to get back in on the liquid liner so I decided to opt for Lumene's Blueberry Liquid Liner which, with 90% natural ingredients, I am hoping wont irritate my skin.  I also chose it because of the applicator which is a tapered nib which I find easier to use than a thin brush.  The colour was a rich dark black, similar to the L'oreal one.

I've been using these on and off for about a week now.  The mascara when I first tested it out wasn't what I had expected it to be.  The bristles on the brush were much stiffer than what I had imagined and it turned out the formula was waterproof which I normally avoid because I can't be bothered with the hassle of trying to get it off.  Once I got the hang of it though I didn't mind and I'm sure the waterproofness will come in useful.
The liquid eyeliner has also been good.  I've been enjoying having liquid liner back in my life again and love the definition it gives my eyes.  No irritation so far either.  I'm wearing both the liner and mascara in the photo below.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening!  I feel like I could use an early night tonight,
till next time :)

Twirlybirdie