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This serum feels and acts just like a primer to me - it does definitely smooth and erase lines but the effect is temporary and is gone as soon as you wash your face. I didn't find that it had any long-term effects on my skin at all. What I liked: *It provides a smooth base for makeup, funnily enough, a lot like a primer does. *It only has a very faint floral smell - you wouldn't notice it at all unless you get right up close and sniff. *The packaging is fantastic - a hygienic opaque pump pack with no weird gadgets. *It feels quite moisturising. What I didn't like: *If you put too much on it gets sticky, again, a lot like a primer. *It doesn't really do much of anything other than when you're actually wearing it - ie: there are no treatment effects that I could see. To me, this is a nice enough product but Dr LeWinn has better, more effective serums and moisturisers that I've trialled and liked enough to repurchase so I'll be sticking to those. I would not repurchase this one.

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils are the first 'chunky' eye pencils I remember seeing - definitely the first ones I owned. I've got about a dozen colours, and use them as bases under powder eyeshadows. Milk is the classic favourite for everyone, a matte white that makes powder eyeshadow colours more true to life and vibrant than just applying straight on to a bare eyelid. However, the other colours I have work well to enhance the colour and pop of powdered shadows too. I use Slate - a charcoal grey/black - as a smudgy eyeliner when I want a bit of definition on the top lid but nothing defined. The problem with the NYX jumbo eye pencils is that they smudge, fade and crease quite easily. Nowadays there are loads of brands that have similar pencils that set, including lots of drugstore brands like Rimmel, Models Prefer, Milani, and even Jordana has a matte white that sets to rival Milk. NYX should update the formula of these to make them stay longer or they will end up being neglected for newer, better products.

Many companies have some version of this kind of thing now (Rimmel Apocalips, for example), but NYX Matte Lip Cream was the first one I remember seeing - definitely the first in the 'drugstore' price range. I have two - Antwerp, a soft light, slightly orange-y brown, and Amsterdam, a bright blue-based red. I used to have a couple of others but I gave them away because the colours weren't right for me. I love the idea of these - they glide on easily, dry fairly quickly, and leave a sort of stain that lasts a good few hours. The problem is they are a bit drying, and if you don't have perfect lips they will settle in every crack and cranny. I would wear them more often but I can't be bothered with all the prepping that needs to go on first - I think that takes away from the idea of having an easy, swipe-on-and-go product in the first place. If I'm honest, I'd have to admit to preferring the Apocalips over these.

I have bought several jars of this since trialling it for BH a while back, and I can't be without it now. I delve into others but keep coming back to this one. It's rich but not greasy or heavy, does well under makeup and smooths out all the (many) fine lines and wrinkles on my face. I know that's only cosmetic, but I don't care - while I'm wearing it, my face looks younger. I've learned to live with the jar packaging because I love the product so much, but I really wish it came in a pump pack for hygiene's sake. It's a bit on the pricy end for a drugstore brand, but comes on sale a lot at places like Chemist Warehouse, so I usually snatch it up then. I also wish it had sunscreen in it - if they made a sunscreen-included version I'd be all over that. My skin is normal/combo - drier in winter and a bit oilier in summer, and this is perfect for me all year round. It's not heavy and it absorbs easily.

This stuff is THE BOMB. For years I've leaned towards high end foundations because that's one area I feel you get what you pay for. However, I heard so many raves about this one that when it was on sale for $10 I figured I had to give it a go, and I'm so glad I did. I have the shade Buff Beige, which is probably slightly too light for me in summer, but a bit of bronzer and it's all good. It's the perfect shade for me in cooler weather. Good things about it: *A PUMP! It's easy to get product out without getting it all over yourself or trashing the lid of the bottle. *It lasts all day. *It gives a full coverage - even my red cheeks - without looking cakey. *It doesn't feel heavy or masky on the face. *It's cheap and it's on special all the time in places like Priceline so you can pick it up even cheaper than RRP usually. Bad things about it: Nothing at all. Goodbye Chanel!

Who doesn't need a lovely girly pink eyeshadow, right? I have Inked in Pink and since I'm the wrong side of 40 I use it mainly as a base rather than a standalone shadow. It creates a nice shimmer underneath whatever powder shadow I apply on top and I often use a teeny dab in the corner of my eyes so I look like I got more than 4 hours sleep the night before (which I generally haven't). This doesn't crease on me at all and I have quite oily eyelids. They last the day and keep any powder eyeshadow on top looking fresh and spiffy.

I'm in my mid 40s and have normal combination skin with a few lines around the eyes but not much else in the way of wrinkles. I feel like this moisturiser would suit me better in winter, as it was a little bit heavy in the hot weather we have been having lately. On cool days it was a pleasant smoothing base under makeup and made my skin feel soft and hydrated throughout the day. I would prefer a pump package as I find jar packaging a little unhygienic, and I wasn't jazzed with the smell - a fairly strong floral that made me think of old lady's soap. I'll bring this out again when the weather is cooler and use it then. It is a nice cream, but it didn't really do anything amazing to my skin.

I used to use a Clarisonic and I loved it but after a few months I found that it made my skin feel irritated and it seemed a bit harsh, so I stopped. Instead I bought a $5 face brush in the supermarket and used that once or twice a week with a gentle cleanser just to make my face feel like it was getting a proper clean. I was interested in trying the Olay Regenerist Advanced Cleansing System, thinking it might be a good cheap alternative to the Clarisonic. In truth, it's more like an expensive alternative to the hand held brush. The brush head is small – about the size of a 50 cent piece – and moves in a rotating circular motion quite slowly, with quite stiff bristles that I found very slightly irritating (not enough to really bother me, but it meant I wouldn't consider using this for long periods at a time). The size is good for getting into awkward parts of the face like under the eyes and around the nose, but it does make doing the larger parts such as cheeks and forehead a bit of a chore. The cleanser that comes with it is a bit too drying for me and made my skin feel very tight and stripped afterward, so after a couple of tries I changed to another cleanser I had, which felt much better. I used the Olay brush every night for a week, then the following week I switched to my hand brush, and then the week after that back to the Olay brush. I could honestly see and feel no difference between the two. The Olay brush did clean effectively, but so does the cheap one. The biggest problem I had was finding where the batteries went. It would be helpful to have a diagram showing where it is, as the written instructions did not explain and it took me ages to find it. In summary, I don't think this is a particularly useful or necessary product. If you want to go high end, get a Clarisonic. If you want to save money, get a hand held brush and use it with a good, gentle cleanser. Although I'm currently using it once a day on my hands and I find it's quite effective at smoothing that skin to help hand cream sink in better.

The reason I like the idea of an in-shower body lotion is because I'm too lazy or usually running too late for work to use normal body lotion as often as I should. However, this product is applied exactly the same as a normal body lotion, so it seems fairly pointless to me. I thought it would work like a shower gel - smear some on a pouf, rub it on, rinse it off. I tried that but it didn't work. I had to apply quite a lot all over and it only really worked if I did it by hand. It didn't save me any time or effort at all. I also really disliked the feel of it after - it made my skin feel greasy and unclean. I tried this product several times and it had the same effect every time. A couple of times I was at home rather than work and I actually went and had another shower to wash it off because it was bothering me so much. After that I gave up and asked my teenage daughter to try it and give me her opinion. She said the same thing as me - didn't like the feel, and didn't see the point in standing in the shower doing the same process you'd be doing outside the shower anyway. One thing I really hated about it was the smell. It's a very 'oily' smell, almost like some kind of diesel or petroleum. It was horrible. I'm afraid this product is not for me.

I don't use this as a concealer - I use it as a subtle illuminator under my eyes and under my brows. It doesn't have any shimmer so it doesn't really stand out much, it just adds a lovely bit of lightness to the face. To me it is a much cheaper version of the YSL Touche Eclat. I'd definitely buy it again - I use mine every day.