Younique Make Up Review

Back in June I was offered the chance to trial and review some Younique make up products in the run up to their launch in Germany and Ireland. With my holidays coming up, I jumped at the chance to have some lovely beauty products to try out. There would be various other adults around at all times, so I was fairly sure that I would get some time alone to sather myself with creams and lotions and apply proper make up.

For the past year my make-up routine has been reduced to having a tube of handcream and a tin of Vaseline by the kitchen sink, to be applied to dry hands and lips. Most mornings I would steal the few seconds it takes to slap on a blob of day cream. If my children allowed me the time, I would brush on some bronzer and add a line of eyeliner and lick of mascara to take to tired look off me before leaving the house. I have a clever plan to keep some make up basics above the washhand basin in the downstairs loo so that I can give myself a quick brush over before heading out the door while being able to keep Number Three with me, but this is yet to come to fruition.

Younique duly posted off a parcel to me and I waited eagerly for it to arrive. And I waited and I waited and I checked it had gone out but it never came. You see the German postal workers went on strike around then and I can only asssume that my lovely primer and concealer are sitting somewhere in a Deutsche Post depot. If I am in luck they may yet arrive. One can hope.

The lovely Alice at Younique took pity on me and has now sent me some mascara and lip stain to review. The parcel was waiting for me when I returned from my holidays and I couldn't resist opening it all up, knowing well that it would be a few ddays before i could even think about appplying it. Unpacking and laundry needed my urgent attention. 

So, what about that make-up, I hear you ask. Well, it all looks fabulous and I feel a bit bad for the products really, it being in such poor company with my Rimmel lipstick, Boots-bought bronzer pearls and Essence eyeliner.The packaging is really high quality and the mascaras in particular are weighty and feel good to hold.

I was provided with the Moonstruck 3D Fiber Lashes set as well as Lucrative Lip Gloss in clear and Stiff Upper Lip Lip Stain in "Saucy". 

Let's loook at the lip products first. I was a bit apprehensive about the lipstain at first. It is a lot redder than I would normally wear, but it does have a great sheen and really is a stain. The colour stays on really well. 

The lip gloss was excellent. Very often I find lip gloss too sticky and messy and have been known to dump bare-used tubes of the stuff. But for me the Younique Lucrative Lip Glass is a keeper. It goes on easily, has a good sheen but is not at all tacky and has a nice bit of sparkle. 

 On opening the parcel, I was sure that I would be more impressed with the eye products than the lip  products. It turned out to be quite the reverse. The Moonstruck 3D Fiber Lashes set consists of  two tubes of mascara - a transplanting gel, which looks like a regular mascara, and a fiber brush mascara, which is tricky to apply at first. Even though i followed the instructions on how to apply, I found that I ended up with a lot of blobs of mascara above and below my eye and I had to carefully wipe these away. The mascara takes quite a while to dry compared to the brands I usually use. 

On my second attempt a couple of days later I was prepared for the long drying time and tried not to blink for a few moments after applying. This helped a bit, but I still found it took too long to dry. The look, though, was fantastic. My lashes looked long and plump - perfect for a night on the town, not so much for the school run or the office (well not my office anyway). 

Ther verdict? Yes to the lips. I'll be addding the lip stain and lip gloss to my handbag for when I need a little dash of colour and shine. But I'll be reserving the Moonstruck 3D Fiber Lashes set for big nights out when I need to look glam rather than SAHM. 

[I was provided with these products free of charge for the purpose of reviewing them. All photos, views and thoughts are entirely my own, as ever].