CODE VLM VOLUMISING LENGTHENING MASCARA* | REVIEW

I’m back with the never-ending quest for my favourite mascara. I’ve been around the block mascara-wise, and although I don’t have seven currently on-the-go like I do with foundations, I feel like I’m closing in on the best mascara for me. I’ve tried the big boys; Too Faced Better Than Sex and Urban Decay’s Perversion. I’ve tried the cheaper boys; NYX More To Love. And I’ve had a fair old go at the utter shite boys; *cough cough* L’Oreal Paradise Extatic *cough*. So when I was asked by the girls at CODE Beautiful if I’d like to give their VLM Volumising Lengthening Mascara a try, it’s safe to say I was keeeeen. 

LIZ EARLE DEEP CLEANSING MASK REVIEW

How do you even start a beauty blog post any more? 

“Hello, and welcome back to my blog!”

“Look what IIIIIIIIII’ve goooooottttt!”

“Wagwan bitches, check this out”

It’s been ages since I just wrote a beauty review, which is what I started this bloody blog for in the first place. I’m feeling like I do want to get back to basics a little bit. I felt my blog getting a bit confused over the last year; I had sooo much content I wanted to put in - university, travelling, food, eating out - that I ended up barely covering anything. If JasmineMcRae was supposed to be a beauty blog, it was literally the worst beauty blog on the face of the earth because I honestly think I only wrote a total of about three paragraphs on makeup or skincare this year, all in all. I felt so far removed from being a ‘beauty blogger’, and my identity as a blogger got a bit muddled. And I’d really like to know what in the heck is going on with my blog, my YouTube, my Instagram, etc etc etc. So, here we are with an  a c t u a l  beauty review on the Liz Earle Deep Cleansing Mask. *Gasp!*

MY AUTUMN FAVOURITES

Hasn’t it been a bloody miserable autumn? I can’t remember the last time I saw a blue sky, wasn’t getting drizzled on, or being able to leave my front door without 72million layers on. But even though I’m practically overdosing on my Vitamin D supplements and adding various UV therapy lights to my Amazon basket, this time of year is definitely my favourite for makeup. I can never resist a dark and moody lipstick, or a taupe smokey eye, and I love that autumn allows you to go a bit spookier than you usually would. I’ve chosen a few of my favourite autumnal makeup bits; products I’ve been reaching for lots over the last couple of months to try to inject a bit of warmth into these sub-zero, wet, foggy November days...

UNIVERSITY WAS NOT THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE

For loads of people (friends and family included), university is the most exciting and rewarding time in someone’s life. You learn who you really are, test your independence, teach yourself to cook, party like a nutter and make the friends you’ll keep forever. You’re told to look forward to it, and you do. I stressed out about my exam results, hoping they’d be good enough to get me into the university I wanted. The application process was so fun and daunting. Emails about courses and open days were flooding into my Gmail and I was so excited to move out into a big city and start my new life as a student. 

But as I sit here typing this blog post, just four months after graduating with First Class Honours in Journalism, I’m looking back and feeling a bit disappointed with the whole university experience…

THE RISE OF THE INSTA-BLOGGERS

What’s happened to blogging?

I used to look forward to taking photos, editing them, writing reviews and promoting my blog posts every week, but lately my motivation has dwindled down to pretty much zilch. Even my favourite bloggers are posting to their blogs less and less, and that only feeds into my feelings of laziness, mehhhh, and “what’s the bleeding point, anyway?”. My Sunday mornings used to be dedicated to swigging tea, scrolling through my newsletters and catching up on my favourite creators’ content. Sure, there are hundreds of blog posts going live every day, but these aren’t coming from those who have been passionate about the creating process for years. There are loads of articles that are just churned out thoughtlessly uploaded, with OK-ish photos and less-than-perfect reviews or how-tos. But now I’m lucky to find a new blog post (that’s worth reading) more than once a week, from the many bloggers I absolutely love to follow. Where have you all gone???