It’s coming… the biggest event in the blogging calendar is less than a week away. Yes, the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards are next Tuesday evening and I cannot wait to get there. Despite my excitement, I’ve been surprisingly relaxed about getting my outfit sorted and in truth the event has rather snuck up on me. My shoes were delivered earlier this week – did you see my Tuesday Shoesday blog post about them? But that’s pretty much all I’ve got so far. It’s very unlike me to leave it to the last minute but so far I still haven’t got a dress, jacket, handbag or accessories sorted for the big event so let’s hope I have an outfit to show you by next week! One thing I have organised is my make-up for the event, because I was getting dramatically low on foundation and my mascara was getting a little old and clumpy so it was a good excuse to stock up. After having such a great experience while shopping with Perfume Click in the past, I decided that this would be the best place to start looking for the products I need. I always always choose waterproof mascara so the first item in my basket was this False Lash Effect mascara from Max Factor in waterproof black. The wand has loads (I would even say hundreds) of tiny tiny bristles on it, which grab hold of pretty much all of my eyelashes. I think this is what helps give the impression of false lashes, as every single eyelash seems to get coated with the mascara. The formula wears well, makes eyelashes looks natural rather than clumpy and it doesn’t crumble off at the end of the day. For my face, I wanted a fuller-coverage than usual so it was a toss up between Revlon Colorstay foundation (I’ve used their mineral foundation before) or Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish foundation. It was the first time I’d thought about using an Elizabeth Arden product so I read a lot of blogger reviews online to make sure it would give me the coverage that I wanted. After a lot of research, looking at before/after photos and checking colour swatch charts, I decided to go for it. After all, this is a special event so I can justify spending the extra money on the Elizabeth Arden foundation. I treated myself to the sponge-on cream foundation in Porcelain Beige 04 and I was really pleased when it arrived. The palette is quite big, so that means it has a massive mirror in the lid – definitely big enough to use when applying a full-face of make up! I imagine that the foundation will last me a long time because a little goes a long way. I always thought that a sponge would use up more of the product than I usually like to, but it actually blends it out and makes a small amount go a lot further than I’d imagined. The foundation gives good coverage without masking my freckles, and it actually makes my skin look a naturally peachy colour – I’d call it a ‘healthy glow’ compared to my usual translucent blue skin tone. The only thing that I am not sure about is the scent of this product, it’s much stronger-smelling than any other foundation I’ve used, and sort of smells like floral and antibacterial at the same time but after a while you get used to it and can’t smell it as much any more. The same can be said for the powder that I’ve chosen; it’s got quite a strong scent but it’s a really low-cost translucent powder so at only £3.85 I really can’t complain! Plus, this is a truly translucent powder and doesn’t colour my face at all, just sets my make up. The application sponge gives a thicker coverage than I’d like, so I just use a large powder brush to swirl the powder onto my face, although I did use the pad for touch-ups while dancing and it kept my make up in place all night. The product is Lentheric Feather Finish compact powder and I’ll definitely be buying it again. Finally, and saving the best until last, is the lipstick. I decided that a new lippy was in order for this special occasion and I always struggle with finding a good lipstick that lasts long enough without drying out my lips. It’s such a problem that I usually skip lipstick altogether, or if I really feel like I need a little colour on my lips I’ll use a tinted lip balm or a chubby stick. That said, I decided to try a Max Factor Colour Elixir lipstick in 715 Ruby Tuesday and I’m so glad that I did. Red lipstick is one of the make up items that I’d always wanted to wear but each time my choice of lipstick has failed me. However, this Max Factor formula actually stays put! It lasts for ages, and even after it wears off a little your lips are still stained red so look like you’re still wearing the lipstick – in a good way! I need to touch up much less often and barely have to check myself in the mirror because I know the lipstick will still be there. I can eat and drink and dance the night away and my lips still look great! I have actually never been more happy with a lipstick and I now want to buy all the colours in this range because I don’t think I’m ever going to find a better, more hard-working lipstick in my life! So that’s it for my beauty haul, and I’m all set for the Cosmo Blog Awards on Tuesday – really looking forward to showing off my new look!