Rimmel Glam Eyes in Mayfair, English Breakfast and Afternoon Tea

I have not had a lot of experience with the Rimmel line (other than a few lipsticks) but when I saw these Glam Eyes eye shadow quads, I just had to check them out! At first glance, the colors looked like they would work beautifully together and historically, I really love colors like these with my green eyes. At $6.99, they’re very reasonably priced so I decided to purchase all three---Mayfair, English Breakfast and Afternoon Tea. Read on to see what I thought after wearing each of these!

Upon examining Mayfair, the first quad that I tried on, I thought, “Oh great! This reminds me of one of my Dior 5 color pans (Rosy Tan, I think) so if it works as well, this is a HUGE bargain!” The first thing I did was to swatch each color and that’s when the trouble began. I literally had to dig into the lightest color (at the bottom) and the pink in order to get any pigmentation to show up at all. The medium tone brown is better and the darker shade is best, but all of these shades were a real disappointment. Don’t get me wrong---they’re very pretty---but you really have to go over and over your lids in order to build any color at all. The lightest and darkest colors are matte while the pink and the medium brown have some shimmer but nothing that I would consider off putting (which is good for aging eyes). And while I don’t think they’re really that blendable, the fact of the matter is, once you get them on your eyes, there’s very little definition to be seen due to the lack of pigment. So that could be a good thing if you’re not great at blending or not such a great thing if you’re used to much more pigmented eye shadows (heck---Wet & Wild Color Icon shadows have much more pigment than this and W&W is cheaper!).

You can see what I mean from the swatch picture above. Looks promising but really not great. I tried to take a picture of my eyes while using Mayfair but, honestly, it literally didn’t show up in a way that could provide a decent example. This one may be good for a natural look but I can’t recommend it.

Ages of Beauty rating for Mayfair: *



English Breakfast is a cool toned neutral quad that features a cream colored matte shadow as the highlight, a very light tan satin and a very light taupe shimmer as well as a darker gray/brown matte shadow at the top. The lightest color has more pigment than that in Mayfair but the light tan does not offer a lot in the way of color. The light taupe is a bit better and the darkest shade seems to have good pigment compared to some of the others. I actually like this quad the best out of the three due to the contrast in the shadows. You’ll see in the pictures, below, that I was able to get a decent look going with this quad. I used the lightest shade from the lash line to brow bone then placed the light tan towards the outside of the lid, the light taupe in the crease and then the darkest shade at the outside crease. This is a decent, but not great, neutral look and much better than Mayfair.




I think you can see what I mean about English Breakfast. This one is staying in my makeup kit, rather than going into the reject box!

Ages of Beauty rating for English Breakfast: ***


Afternoon Tea is a warmer toned quad that contains four shades in the same configuration as the others (two mattes and two satins). This time, the shade with absolutely no discernable pigment is the lightest shade, a warm cream matte. In every swatch I’ve done, I can barely see this color on my skin. The lighter brown (a satin shade) is a medium pigment but the other two, a warmer taupe and the darker warm brown have much more pigment. In fact the second to darkest shade is VERY pigmented and makes a very nice crease or liner color.


On the eyes, this quad (with the exception of the lightest shade) can be built up fairly well or applied so that it leaves a more natural finish, like I did in the picture above.

Ages of Beauty rating for Afternoon Tea: ***

Have you tried any of these eye quads? Please share your thoughts!

Budget Face of the Day

I started this blog as an outlet for myself and a resource for women roughly my age and older who are dealing with issues concerning body image, aging, elderly parents, children , finances, health and beauty. I’m no writer but it’s been a great experience and being the beauty junkie that I am, I absolutely LOVE when I can find an inexpensive product that works. In the beauty industry today, we’re bombarded with messages like “you’re not thin enough, pretty enough, or young enough but if you want to be those things you need to spend $$$$$ on THIS product in order to be worthwhile.” OK, not really those exact words, but with all of the Photo Shopped images in magazines and insanely expensive beauty products out there, things have gotten a little ridiculous.

The other day, I posted a “face of the day” that used all high end products. I love all of those products but the price tag on that entire look was pretty high (I didn’t even add it up---I just know it was “a little much.”). So in the interest of being balanced, today’s post uses all drugstore products and many of them are very inexpensive!




I start out with mascara, because I almost always make a mess that has to be cleaned up. For this look, I used Neutrogena’s Healthy Volume Mascara in Black/Brown. At $7.49, this is an excellent budget pick and makes my lashes longer and thicker (and it doesn’t smudge!!!).

Almay CC Cream in Light

My next step for this look was the application of Almay’s new CC Cream in light. This is a new product and so far I like it as a tinted moisturizer. It costs about $9.99 (give or take) at your nearest drugstore. Wherever I needed “correcting,” I applied Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Spot Concealer + Treatment ($9.99). Then I set my face with Revlon’s Nearly

 Pressed Powder ($9.99).





OK. Now back to the eyes where I found some GREAT budget picks! From the lash line to the eyebrow, I applied Wet N Wild’s Color Icon Shadow Single eye shadow in Brulee ($1.99!!!). This eye shadow is SOOOO great and it’s my go-to base shadow for many, many looks. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was a high end shadow! On the lid I applied NYX’s single shadow in Taupe ($4.99) and Dark Brown ($4.99) in the crease. Surprisingly enough, all three shadows lasted all day without creasing and I didn’t even apply any eyelid primer, which I usually have to wear. Next I lined my upper lids with L’Oreal’s Voluminous Smoldering Eyeliner in Black ($8.99). I’m still testing this one out so I’ll let you know if it’s a great product after more testing. On the lower water line, I used Rimmel’s Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in

 ($4.49). This step is a way to brighten your eyes. Most eyeliners don’t last on my waterline but this one did a reasonably good job, although it does require a touch up after a few hours. Last but not least, I applied some of the mascara to my eyebrows to cover up the white hair!





On my face, I used Revlon’s PhotoReady Bronzer (about $10.50), which is an excellent, matte bronzer that includes four shades. With this product, I contoured my jaw line and cheeks as well as used it on my forehead at the hairline. The last products I used were a real value from Elf. Their powder blush in Tickled Pink ($3.00), paired with the All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade ($1.00), provided a nice flush that lasted most of the day with just a little bit of fading. I also used the All Over Color Stick on my lips.











At just over $68, these products were good budget picks. Most (not the mascara or the all over color stick) will last for 6-12 months, depending on how often they are used so I think that they could be excellent choices for a woman on a budget. But while I’m thinking of it, I’m wondering if it’s possible to do a full face for under $25? Hmmmm….maybe that will be a future subject for a face of the day post!!!

Do you use any of these products? If so, what do you think of them?

Face of the Day: Drugstore Brands

I've been working for the last few days to get back on track after being away for over a week. Today was the first day that I actually took the time to put on makeup so I thought it would be a good time to do a Face of the Day (FOTD) post. 

Every item I used today is from the drugstore. Just about every item I used has not been reviewed yet so you can look forward for more reviews of some quality drugstore products. Click below to see what makes up this look!

How to: "No Makeup" Makeup

Photo Credit: Prevention.com

I don't wear makeup every day but when I do, I often reach for a more natural look. As I've gotten older, my skin has "dulled" a bit, pigmentation isn't as even as it was when I was in my 20s or even my 30s, and my eyes look a little less vibrant. That's not to say that I don't leave my home without makeup (I do) but sometimes I like a little pick me up that doesn't involve a lot of time or products. 

For this reason, I've figured out which handful of products provide that extra lift that still looks natural. And best of all, it only takes 5 minutes!