I’ve been talking about mascara a lot on Twitter recently. As makeup goes, it seems to be the thing that gets people most angry / passionate / vocal. Ironically it’s also the thing I probably spend the least amount of money on. While my skin is coated in £25 foundation and my lips given a bit of shine with £15 lipgloss, the mascara I use rarely costs much more than a fiver.

Thing is, I’ve never found the perfect one. So I’m still on the lookout. Plenty have impressed me, an equal number have let me down. I’m sure you’re the same, ladies, so in an attempt to perform some kind of service on this blog other than amusing myself, I’ve decided I should try as many mascaras as I possibly can and share the results.

I’ll start with Maybelline Lash Stiletto. Looks pretty, has a quirky idea behind it, and doesn’t cost the earth. Sadly, I found it a little ‘meh‘. It does what it’s supposed to – adds gloss and loads of length, but I just wasn’t wowed by it. Maybelline are the mascara brand but this one isn’t their best, I think it’s just a bit too thin. I like drama and drama with this means four or five coats.

One thing I did love, however, was the brush. It’s a godsend if you’re fed up of HUGE brushes or plastic bristles or whatever other ‘new’ idea is trying to reinvent the wheel. This goes back to basics, it’s a long-bristled, narrow brush that gets to the roots and drags the lashes out and up. It’s really good for lower lashes and it allows so much control I can apply it on the train without smudging.

Yes, I do my makeup on the train. Please don’t judge me. It’s A 45 minute commute and I like my sleep!

Maybelline Lash Stiletto: £7.82 (with £2 off at Boots now)

Next: Estee Lauder Sumptuous.

I have frequent bouts of sadness at the moment when I look at Catwalk Queen and realise it’s not mine to do with as I please any more. Though my new job does involve some fashion writing and research, the site (launching soon, I hope) is much broader in terms of what we cover, and I don’t get to be so involved in what’s going on in the world of fashion any more. In some ways it’s great,  as I get to read the site as a visitor and not an editor. But it’s also sad that I don’t get to do things like visit Graduate Fashion Week and tour the press days at the moment.

That said, because I came into this very early on, I spent a long time trying to help PRs get to grips with blogs, and I’m still very much involved in that area of the industry. Yesterday morning I put my blogging hat back on for a breakfast meeting with a high street brand, where we discussed fashion blogs and PRs. I was waxing lyrical about how wonderful the big PR 360 has been in terms of giving bloggers access to things, understanding how and why to work with them, and managing communications when things go wrong, and I really meant it.

Sadly, when I got to the office I was greeted with a tweet from Liberty London Girl regarding the shocking treatment of Susie Bubble by Pam Hogg’s PR, after she took some cameraphone pictures of her and a friend trying on catsuits in Hogg’s pop-up shop and put them on her blog.

I don’t even know where to begin in addressing this. I suppose in a way I don’t need to. The damage has been done, so perhaps now these people will realise that the internet is there to be embraced, not ignored. I applaud Susie for having the guts to put up a post explaning exactly what happened, especially since it may jeopardise future communications with these PRs in her day job (at Dazed Digital).

To the ladies at Pam Hogg, you can try and ‘manage’ the reputation of your brand, but I really don’t see the problem with a well-respected, award-winning fashion blogger and industry insider posting a few pics of herself having fun and looking fabulous when you’ve already happily seen your creations on WAGs in the Daily Mail.

…and I didn’t even have to mention Peaches Geldof.