PRODUCT OF THE WEEK - SMASHBOX BROW TECH TO GO:

Fresher Fenn O'Meally shares her product of the week:

Smashbox-

BROW TECH TO GO

What have we here? A defining, precision filling, long wearing waterproof eyebrow pencil… and yes it’s really waterproof! For a while now, I’ve been trying to find the right eyebrow pencil that fills the brow line smoothly yet doesn’t smudge! And here it is, come rain or shine, your brows wont budge.

So what are the little brainboxes behind Smashbox offering? A travel-perfect pen that comes double sided, with a long-wearing pencil at one and a gel at the other. Whilst the angled pencil provides precision shape, the gel, which is to be swept over the brows after applying the pencil, provides a soft coating for a long lasting fill.

With this product there really is no longer the need to constantly top up, tweak, and fine-tune those devious brows throughout the day. Fair enough, at £19 it’s slightly pricier than your average eyebrow pencil, but with a solid wax, it’ll last you longer and most definitely turn that frown upside down! 

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK: VO5 'give me texture instant oomph powder'

English Student Ellie Morson shares her product of the week with us:

As someone who has fine hair, I am constantly trying to find new ways of inserting more texture/ volume into my hair routine. Having fine hair, as well as dealing with the weight of having long hair can make it difficult to have any form of energy going on and my hair seems all too satisfied to sit limply on my head.  Enter the V05 ‘give me texture instant oomph powder’.  It costs £4.07 and I think the name alone was worth me purchasing it. I absolutely love this stuff, though it won’t be for everyone.

It’s ridiculously simple to use. I just section off areas of my hair/ specific places where I want a bit more texture and shake the powder onto roots. It resembles talcum powder, though it’s never left behind any stark white colouration in my hair, (that’d be embarrassing). Once I’ve placed it onto my hair, I just massage it into my roots for a few seconds, which creates instant texture and volume – amazing!

The downside – unfortunately there is one. If you love clean feeling hair, then I would not advise this product. This powder does give a fair amount of build-up and can leave the roots feeling quite dirty, (despite not appearing greasy in the slightest). So, if you’re someone who loves to have their hair feeling squeaky clean, then the chances are that you’re not going to love the feeling of this in your hair. The closest texture I can liken it to when on the hair is that it almost feels a bit coarse and spongy, as though you’ve overindulged in hairspray the night before.  That having been said, it does easily wash out.

However, for me the pros outweigh the cons. I don’t mind enduring ‘dirty’ hair for a bit of texture. This powder offers a cheap way of building some body into the hair and also allows me to skip backcombing, which is a definite plus. Whilst it most definitely won’t be for everyone, this powder is certainly a cheaper alternative to other, similar competing powder products available from different brands, so it may well just be worth trying out if you’ve been after some more texture.