6 Lipsticks: I Regret

This is the last in my little trio of lipstick posts but I will finish of with a lip gloss one next Saturday. I hope you are enjoying this series, getting a glimpse into my collection!

Lets get the worst of the worst out of the way first. These two lipsticks from Evie Mai, a brand I struggle to find, came in a vanity box I treated myself to one Christmas. I hate them. They are the palest of colours that I really cannot imagine suiting anybody, the first one makes you look like death and the second one doesn't come out anywhere near as pink on the lips as it does in the swatch. Also as you may be able to see in the picture, the stick itself goes sort of dry and patchy, odd. Sigh. It really is a shame because they are very creamy and it is a pretty colour. I was extremely disappointed. :( 

MUA Shade 12 is a nice enough colour if you like the glitz and glam, personally I think it looks way OTT on me and after my cousin 'made me look pretty' it isn't in such a good state. I think the glitter is a little too big as well.

There is anything major that I don't like about the AVON lipstick in Berry Berry, the packaging is classic and the colour is beautiful but I can't handle the smell, it is so drying and the shade, although nice, doesn't suit me in the slightest. 

There is just one reason I regret buying the Calvin Klein lipstick in Desire and that is that I really, really do not suit purple lipstick. *Shudder*

Finally, the first MAC lipstick I ever bought and it was a huge let down. I don't, however, think this is down to MAC. I believe this is a fake. I have the shade Shy Girl and it is terrible on application, it doesn't cover the lips and if you go for a second coat it wipes away the first. Full coverage is impossible. It also makes my lips feel horrible and when compared to my other MAC lipsticks, the packaging does differ. Lesson learnt: Always buy direct from the brand and not over Amazon, even if the price is attractive. 

Anndd there we go! Which lipsticks do you regret? Are there any I should avoid?

Until next time

xx

All Bronzed Up (High Street)

Hello

We're leaving Autumn behind now (which is actually when I had hoped to get this post up.. oops!) and moving steadily into the Winter months where the days get cooler but as does our makeup. 

Personally, in Winter months I like to go with the pale/natural look with maybe a bit of contour. I avoid the bronzed up look. I do know however, that a lot of you like to keep your tan all year round so today I'd like to talk about three high street bronzers you may (or may not) want to invest in.

Note that I'm not discussing these products because they are my favourites nor because they're the best on the market but simply because they are the only ones in my collection. Despite being a massive contour-er, I'm really not that much of a bronze-y person...

So we'll start with Maybelline SunGlow pressed bronzing powder because it was the first bronzer I ever bought (we're not counting the compact I got from a Zoey 101 magazine aged 8, okay? pfft. It's not like I collected every single one just for the makeup or anything).

The packaging isn't great, much like the Rimmel Stay Matte powder it's cheap and easily broken. The lid doesn't screw on properly and the product falls out of the pan every single time I open it! It's simple, though, and I like simple. 

I really do like the slogan 'dust on a touch of sun'. It's simply fantastic. Every bronzer should have a slogan like this one. It goes well with the imprint of a sun shine on the powder also. 

The colouring is quite subtle but far too easily gives you a nasty orange tint. A little is a lot with this product. 

Well since we're going in order of purchase today, I picked up this cheap little compact from Superdrug at the beginning of the year. I like the perfectly sized, cubic packaging made from clear plastic. It's a handy thing to keep in your handbag. It's well priced to at just £1.00! I've always loved MUA for their prices. 

I believe this is in shade 3. It works well on fair skin as a contour or a light bronzer on the high points of the face. For a cheap, "drug store" product I give this full marks. 

And finally, my most recent (I'd say early Summer this year) bronzing buy, the love it or hate it, most raved about bronzer by the beauty bloggers. It's the Bourjois chocolate bronzer!

This is quite a controversial product since a lot of gurus, such as Zoe (Zoella280390 on YouTube) have made clear how much they love it while others, such as Gabrielle Rose (Velvetgh0st on YouTube) have said they're not so much a fan. 

Me? I love this bronzer! More recently I've been using it as a contour when I can't find my beloved Sleek contour kit. It works as both. 

The smell is more like cocoa butter than chocolate but either way I can't get enough of it. I'm sure you know I'm a scent obsessed kind of girl so anything fragranced has my attention. The colour pay off is good, a warm golden colour which I guess can be a little orange if you're super pale, but this is definitely my favourite. 

I'm not financially well off enough to afford high end products unless they're gifted to me so I'm not an owner of any top bronzers but if I was I think I'd like to give the Nars Lagoona a whirl. Hint hint to friends. Christmas is coming ;)

Until next time

xx

Fall Favourites

Hello

Nope I'm not American and yes I love the word Autumn but 'Fall Favourites' just has that ring to it, don't you think? So that's what we're going with today. I present to you my favourites from September/October.

I'm going to split it into categories this season, so if you'd like to skip some sections this is the order;

1. skin care
2. makeup 
3. nails
4. scent
5. Misc

I'm also not going to talk in detail because there are so many things! I hope this is okay and if there is anything you want me to review, leave a comment.

Skin care

Unfortunately for my skin, since my life got a little busier my skin isn't as high in my priorities as it should be. I only cleanse if I'm wearing makeup - even that has slipped to a makeup wipe the past couple of nights (yep, naughty me!), I never tone and I'm always forgetting to moisturise! Night cream just doesn't exist to me anymore. However there are still a couple of things I've been loving recently. 

First of, I am still enjoying my Manuka Doctor hydrating facial cleanser, it does exactly what it says on the tube and bee venom skin products is the number 1 trend 2013.

Second, I picked up the 'Catastrophe Cosmetic' fresh face mask from Lush about two weeks ago and I've used it five times since then. It's only the 75g tub but I've barely got through any and I like a generous coverage. I definitely recommend Lush face masks. 

Make-up

This section has a lot of products this month, but hey! I wouldn't be a decent beauty blogger if I wasn't a beauty addict now, would I?! It's only my bank account that suffers...

First up I've been going crazy for Maybelline 24HR Color Tatattoos! I have four shades in total but my favourites, which I've been getting a LOT of use from include Metallic Pomegranite which is like a bronzey-brown-purple colour (centre), On and On Bronze which is a deep gold colour (right) and my absolute favourite is Pink Gold (left)! The pigmentation is fantastic, I use these as both bases and on their own sometimes. I actually prefer these to my MAC paint pot - much cheaper too. Swatches below.

Something which I bought a very long time ago but I've recently been loving due it's ability to hide under eye bags and cover any blotches that my foundation cannot, is my Witch concealer in shade 01 (Natural). It was just a pharmacy pick up when from when I had really bad skin because witch hazel is great for blemishes but I never really got into it until now. I like the strong smell too. 

Another fabulous product Maybelline has brought to us this year are theBaby Lips lip balms! I have all six available in the UK (very jealous of the wider variety in the US) and I love every. single. one of them. In particular my favourites are Cherry Me for it's colour and taste, Hydrate for it's hydrating qualities and the smell and taste of a sweet I just can't put my finger on, and finally, Intense Care for being all round a great lip balm. I keep the latter by my bed for last thing at night, first thing in the morning and everything in between! Makeup award goes to Maybelline for there brilliant high street products.  

I have been using my Photo Finish face primer from Smashbox almost everyday since August and I love it. It does a great job and you don't need much of it - my tiny 12ml tube is still going strong.

A blush I bought due to it being recommended to me by a friend is Sleek Rose Gold. Now, I was already a fan of the Sleek powder blushes but this one is just so beautiful! It is more a summery blush but I like it for Autumn just as much. Ahh I could just stare at it forever.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before that I'd picked up the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless mascara but I have. I got the brown shade because I feel like black is too much for my eyes and I'm loving it. It isn't clumpy and it looks so pretty. It's made my lashes grow too which although it claims to do so, I did not believe it would. I like the long, slim application wand too. My new favourite mascara. 

Finally for this category I have two lip products; My Model Co lip gloss in Strip Tease which I believe I have featured on here before now (well I'm still in love with it) and my Calvin Klein lip stick in Mesmerize which I talked about waaayyyy back in one of my very first posts here. It's a little bright for Autumn but I think it's great all year round, especially in the season of the crunchy leaves. :) 

Pheww, now that's over. 

Nails

Just the two polishes that I actually own are in my favourites this month;Barry M Red Wine because it's just the perfect October colour and MUA Fairy Dust which is beautiful with just one coat and doesn't chip either. I love this type of polish.

However there is one nail varnish which ALL the gurus have been chatting about and I''ve just been stood drooling over it in Boots. That isEssie's After School Boy Blazer from their new Autumn 2013 collection. Anyone want to buy it for me? I'll love ya forever. 

Scent

I'm a girl who loves her smells and this month I've got a couple of candles for you to try out. 

Mandarin Cranberry is one of my absolute favourite Yankee candles for its beautiful smell and I like the colour too. I've been burning this small votive size one a lot lately and I just find it delicious. 

Also - and we're getting in the holiday spirit now - I have one of the Halloween scents. Witches brew is a lovely spicey scent. I like the label too. 

Last but not least I shopped my stash and found an old NEXT body spritz in lemongrass. I adore this fresh, 'invigorating' spray and I've been using it on a daily basis, I'm a little sad that it isn't available anymore though. 

Misc.

So finally the miscellaneous category. Three things for you this month;

First I've been enjoying to use the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to apply my foundation with. 

Next I am currently reading (once again, I'm late to jump on the band wagon) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and I'm really enjoying it. An older read, yes but I recommend it all the same. 

ANDDD finally the last thing in my favourites is the Halloweentown film series from Disney. I love every single of one these movies, they are some of the very few films I can watch more than once - in fact, I watch these EVERY YEAR. I seriously recommend you go and watch them. 

I hope you enjoyed this slightly too long, wordy post full of my favourite things.

Until next time
xx

Stop! You're Making Me Blush

Hello

A bit of a quirky title today, non? Well if you couldn't guess today I am talking about blush and how to find the best one for you. Are you a pink or a nude kinda girl? Matte or shimmer? Cream or powder? Gel or Mousse? 

I'm basically going to talk about the variety of blush products I own and their pros and cons for different skin types. So if that sounds good to you, read on!

Let's start with with the basic of basics; just a powder matte blush. I have a bunch of these. My favourites include Sleek Flamingo and Life's A Peach and No7 Honey. If you've read any of the numerous posts in which I've talked about my Honey blush you will know just how much I love it and that I have majorly hit pan and need to repurchase!

Powder blushes are good for women with normal to oily skin types because they do a good job of absorbing oil and so wont slip around your face therefore turning you into a lop-sided clown. Nobody wants that. The benefits of powder blushes are that they give a more natural look - a subtle tint shall we say - and they are easy to apply to the skin so you are a lot less likely to go over board and again end up looking like a clown (no offence to the clowns of this world).

Cons, however, are that the colour doesn't last as long as say, a cream or liquid formula and if it does last, it may change slightly depending on the oiliness of your skin. 

You can pretty much get hold of most colour blushes but the main shades are pinky/peachy/rosy colours and a good all round palette for those with a budget I find, is the Body Collection Dusy Pink blush set (see below). I really like this and I picked it up in Scotland for less than £5 - bargain. 

You can also pick up shimmery powder compacts such as my MUA blush in shade 5. 

(on my nails I am wearing Bourjois gel polish in beige distinction with a London cosmetics clear glitter top coat)

If you are going to wear a shimmer on your cheeks it is best if you do not have oily skin or else you will just highlight the oiliness and it, uh, wont look good to say the least. Each to their own however and if you think you can pull it off then go for it. 

Next up is one of the most popular blush types these days and that is acream formula, for this I only have the one product which is Romancefrom No7. I'll admit that I am fairly new to creamy products and I haven't used this too much but I really do like the application and how easily you can blend. So far so good. 

A cream blush is best for women with normal to dry skin due to its hydrating qualities and it will also stick better to a non-oily skin type. 

Benefits are of course the hydration, the easiness of blending, long lasting and the pretty glowing finish. 

The disadvantage is that it is slightly less easy to apply subtly. 

Now lets combine the two and discuss Bourjois's cream to powder blush.  

I really like the packaging of this and the shades are super cute. The product itself is just like a cream blush in the container but once it's on the skin it is a lot more powdery and therefore carries the qualities of a powder. My only advice for this product is be accurate with your application because once it's on it is hard to blend out. All in all, though, this is a very good product which would suit normal/combination skin.

With only two remaining categories (for me anyhow since I have no experience with liquid tints or cheek stains) I would like to talk about my favourite. The mousse blush. I am a big fan of the Maybelline DreamMousse range, particularly their blush and foundation. I do, however, currently only own the blush which is fantastic. 

A mousse blush is similar to a cream but a lot lighter and very easy to blend. You definitely do not need a lot of product on your brush or finger to get noticeable coverage. I would recommend this to women with normal/dry skin because on an oily surface this would melt away and look terrible. 

Pros are definitely blending, lightness and lasting power but cons are that it is too easy to go OTT and it doesn't work for oily skin. 

I forgot to take this one on my little trip to the outdoors for photographing. Oops!

Anndddd finally we have the gel formula. Everything seems to have a gel version these days; eye liner, foundation, eye shadow, blush, lip products. The whole darn lot. I guess it must be pretty good, eh? 

Well I think so anyway. 

I do love my gel blush from coty (which I cannot seem to find anywhere on the internet or in town so where did my auntie find this for me?!) in shade 01 Highlighter. Most gel blushers come in little tubes where you just squirt some onto your hand and blend onto the skin using your finger. It looks radiant and glowing. Beautiful! It is off course suitable for normal and dry skin but I think it could work on oily skin too so long as your skin is not overly oily. 

The pros are that is looks good and is easy to apply and the only con I can think of is that it may not work well on oily skin types. 

So which blush is for you? Which is your favourite? I hope this helped you decide. 

Until next time
xx 

My Current Beauty Favourites

Hello

Today I'm trying out something new! I have for you my current beauty favourites. I haven't done a 'favourites' post before so I hope you enjoy!

Another Illamasqua edit.

I will include a reliable link for every product so that should you like the sound of it, you can try it too. 

Let's start with the biggest of them all and by far my favourite-ist (nope, that's not a word. I made it up). Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash. I. Love. This. Smell. Sometimes I just take of the lid and sniff, it's an addiction almost like drugs. Not drugs though - I don't and never will condone the use of drugs nor do I use any substances not prescribed by my doctor for medicinal purposes. Anyway, getting back on track I really like everything about this product, from packaging (cute and quirky as ever) through scent and price, to how it works. It leaves me feeling clean and fresh. 

Moving out of the shower, I have two moisturisers I've been loving over the past couple of months; first a fantastic facial moisturiser. I have shopped my stash and rediscovered my Clinique dramatically different moisturising gel. It's hard to find since the release of the dramatically different +, but I do love it so all the same. It is super hydrating and a good primer for under foundation. I used it on my poor burnt face during our British heat wave and it worked a treat. Yipee. 

Also I have got into the routine of doing a full body moisturise after I get out of the shower. I tried a couple of products but my favourite is definitely the Soap & Glory Butter Yourself five fruits super rich smoothing body cream. This also smells divine and I find it to be such a good body butter for my skin. Me likes a lot. 

The final moisturising product in my favourites is my beloved vibrant cherry lib butter from Marks & Spencer. I've had this for a while and mainly carried it to school but since leaving school in May I have just rediscovered it. I'm almost out but for now it's my top lip product!

Next up I have been enjoying my real techniques makeup brushes (thank you for these perfect tools Sam Chapman!), the crease brush and buffing brush in particular. If you haven't tried these already then do so right now right here. Go on! You know you want to. 

You may have figured out by now that I am a makeup junkie. I may not have the money to splash out on big brands or buy a lotta products but over the years my collection has more than doubled in size. Let me tell you about some of the things from my collections I have been loving recently so much that they have made it to my favourites...

To start us of it will come as no surprise to you to find my BourjoisHealthy Mix Serum gel foundation in here because in my review I raved about it enough! To read more click here. I have been loving Bourjois on the cheeks as well this month in the form of the cream to powder formula blush shade 02. This is a lovely peachy orange colour which I think is just so pretty.

I have been wearing a nude lip pretty much every day recently and my top two products are my MUA lipstick in shade 16 (nectar) paired with my Collection 2000 love your lips lip gloss in shade 2 (delight). I really like how this looks on my lips and it goes perfectly with the Bourjois blush. 

I feel like this has been a very long post today but only two products remaining, both of which are for the eyes! My mascara which I have been using non stop for its non-clump and super curl qualities is actually a cheapy little thing from a brand called Evie Mae in brown.. It came as part of a vanity kit (which you can pick up from eBay here) from a fundraiser catalog a few years ago when I thought nothing of it. Now, though, I am really regretting not using it more earlier on. 

I have also done a little 'shop my stash' and rediscovered my No7 define & shimmer eye palette which contains four silky looking autumn colours all of which are beautiful on the eye.

 I particularly love the chocolate brown either in the crease or all over the lid. The best part about this product is that I got it free when I bought a No7 mascara. This is no longer available from Boots but you can find it on eBay. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and it wasn't just me rambling on about some makeup I like. I really recommend each product mentioned today and I hope you will try some out for yourself and enjoy the just as much. 

If you have a blog or YouTube channel and have uploaded your monthly/current favourites then leave me the link in the comments so I can take a look. 

Until next time
xx

My Lipstick Collection

Since I posted this last February, my collection has of course grown so if you would like to see an updated collection please let me know. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello

Today I have for you my lipstick collection

Lets begin!

First of all, I have six Calvin Klein creme lipsticks which you can find out more about in my CK review.

I then have two lovely shimmery lipsticks from Marks & Spencer in shades 'Coral' and 'Very Pink'. Both of these feature in my favourites at the end of this post.

I have two lipsticks from MUA at Superdrug. 

These are shades 7 and 12. I did own shade 13 (a lovely, dark red) until my six year old cousin snapped it while giving me a  makeover. Sob. I would also love to add shades 16 & 8 to my collection because I loves them!

I have three lipsticks from 'Evie Mai'. I had six but threw some away. If i'm completely honest, these lipsticks are from a set sold in a charity fundraising catalogue and the quality is appalling. Yes, granted, they have lasted me a long time but the colour takes layers and LAYERS to even show a hint of colour, the packing is cheapy and well, they are just poor. 

Finally, I have several lipsticks from a variety of brands so I will show you these all together. 

As you can see the packing and brands are all different and the shades go from deep reds through natural pinks and bright shades too.

The lipsticks shown in these pictures are:

• Wet'n'Wild Silk Finish lipstick in shade 40
• Zafi Lipstick shade 1645 (I THINK - I don't know for sure as i'm only going by the internet)
• L'oreal Paris Intense lipstick for brunettes in shade 371 'Pink Passion'
• Avon Cosmetics lipstick  in shade R426 'Berry Berry'
• Wilkinson lipstick (no shade)

Not shown in the pictures but also in my collection is the vital radiance colour stick in shade 18 'Pomegranite'. This lipstick is not in too good a condition so I decided not to photograph it. I can't find it online but I got it from eBay in a set.  It is, however, the bottom colour in the swatches (above).

Now for my favourites!

My favourites are...

• Calvin Klein 'Mesmerize' because I love how it looks on me. Find out more in my CK review linked near the top of this post.
• M&S 'Coral' because I think it's a stunning colour.
• M&S 'Very Pink' because it is a subtle but shimmery, bold colour and very pigmented.
• Wet'n'Wild Silky Finish shade 40 because this is my everyday school/work lipstick when I do the natural look. 

So there we go, I hope you enjoyed getting a look into my collection and like I mentioned before, if you'd like a full review of any of the products mentioned, do let me know in the comments.

Until next time

xx