I need to stop, seriously. I have spent WAY too much money recently, and on stuff I really don't need more of. Like today, for example, I bought even MORE eyeliner and mascara, despite having already bought like £15 worth about 3 months ago. Anyways, I'd figure I'd put the unnecessary purchasing to good use and make a review of what I got, so here it is.
#1 - MUA Extreme Felt Eyeliner - £2
#2 - Collection 2000 Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner - £2.99
#3 - Beauty UK Lash-fx Extreme Volume Length + Lift Mascara - £2.49
#4 - Miss Sporty Lash Curving Mascara - £1.99
I'll start with the mascaras. I've tried both of them, granted, only for about 2 hours, but they both seem to be doing fine. In terms of application, I found the Miss Sporty mascara to be easier to use, but honestly, there wasn't much more of an issue with the Beauty UK one, so I'm just being nit-picky. There isn't a huge amount of difference in terms of visual lash length with either of them, but it's at least noticeable that mascara's on, so not bad for the price I say. On a side note though, I would recommend the Miss Sporty Lash Building Mascara, as it does have more of an effect on lash length and is still really affordable!
Now to the eyeliners. Because of my ridiculously folded lids, it's essential I get good quality eyeliner, otherwise the smudging is just hideous. BUT, at the same time, I'm on a tight budget, so yeah, not always easy to find quality at cheap prices... anyway, I'm not a huge fan of liquid eyeliner, so felt pen eyeliners for me are a huge relief where that's concerned. I've only tried one before from Rimmel (I think), and it was amazing, but so tiny and so expensive, so I figured I'd give the cheaper brands a shot, and here's what they look like on:
The first one is the one from MUA and I've got to say, it really reflected the cheap price in terms of its quality. I applied 5 strokes in this photo, by the way. It looks really watered down and doesn't really show up, so honestly, I would not recommend this eyeliner. Or their mascara either - the brush has bristles falling off! The Collection 2000 one is really good; it is bold after a single stroke, unlike the MUA one, and dries really quickly, so my lids don't have the smudging issue. Woo. Also it doesn't fade or come off too easily, so I think it could potentially last quite a while, though the claimed 24 hours is debatable.
Right, enough make-up, on to music. Uh oh. Okay, so, I've been debating with myself a bit as to whether or not I should even bother with this review, but I figure, eh, might as well. As many who know me even vaguely will know, one of my favourite bands of
ever is a UK band called
Elliot Minor. Sadly, however, they are on hiatus, or so we can assume / hope from their lack of activity for the last 2 years. Since then, drummer Dan Hetherton has already gone on to form a new band called 'The Dead Famous', but that's not who I'm going to be reviewing today. Instead, I will be talking about singer Alex Davies' newly unveiled project, '
Spirits'.
As you can see from the vandalized image above Spirits is made up of 3 members: (L-R) Bob, Alex, and Dan. On their Facebook page (click the image for the link) they cite their influences as being Queens of the Stone Age, Biffy Clyro, and Foo Fighters, to name a few. So, really quite different from Alex's previous band. Now, I really shouldn't do this, but I'm afraid it's going to get a little subjective here. I listened to a song of theirs called 'Sweet Dynamite' which they offer as a free download on their Facebook page via PledgeMusic, and I've got to say, I don't really like it. Okay, so I know I'm talking from an Elliot Minor fan point of view, but knowing the potential this band could have with Alex as their songwriter, it's really not that great. I played the track earlier to my brother, someone also familiar with Alex's earlier work, and he too was not impressed. "There's not even a guitar solo!", he stated, and that really does sum up the whole song. The verse doesn't really suit Alex's vocal aesthetic, the chorus is bland, the bridge is feeble and the overall content of the song is way too simple.
I realise that they're not going for an Elliot Minor-esque sound, but I'm quite familiar with the bands they list as their influences and even then they're lacking. They're lacking the Foo Fighter power, the Biffy Clyro drama and the uniqueness of Muse. Then again, I'm basing all of this on one 3+ minute song, so I may be proven wrong in time, but sadly, for now, I'm just not feeling it. I do, however, have hope, even if only because I know what Alex can do; that song ('All My Life') he wrote for 'Clement Marfo & The Frontline', though not really my thing, was extremely well written and well executed, so I guess I was kind of hoping he'd be able to pull out that same magic for his own band. Well, as I said before, I guess we'll just have to see as they release more stuff in the future.
Phew! That was long. Anyway, before I go, just wanted to quickly show off my new
Motel Rocks banner and maybe even hint a little something to you... *hint hint*
-Philippa. x
---
http://ohmymeowy.tumblr.com
http://www.twitter.com/ohmymeowy
PS.: Spirits' debut album will be available to pre-order via PledgeMusic on 1st February '13
PPS.: Not being mean and slating the band btw, just sharing my opinion! I totally urge you to go and check them out - the song is actually quite catchy (just not my thing...)!
