Getting into Pinks and Nudes

In previous posts, I've always said how I would usually steer clear of pink and nude lipsticks just because I never really felt like they suited me. But just recently I've been stepping out of this comfort zone and so I thought I would share them all with you! 

I'm someone who will use a lip liner almost every time I wear lipstick, and I think this is because it makes it last so much longer on the lips but it's helpful for when wearing darker colours because you have the outline instead of going straight in with the bullet! The two lip liners that I tend to use the most are East End Snob by Rimmel and Whirl by MAC. I find that I can wear both of these shades on their own as well as under lipsticks, East End Snob is a dusty pink and I find that this can be used under pretty much any pink lipstick and works well! For the price of this lip liner, it is well worth picking up, it's so easy to wear, and the formula is so creamy on the lips but still lasts so well! This has also been rumoured as a dupe for one of the Charlotte Tilbury lip liners, what's not convincing you to pick it up?! Then there is Whirl which is a a dirty rose colour and on me, it works so well as a "my lips but better" shade and so I do use this a lot! I find that it works well with both nude and pink lipsticks, and would say that is a must have lip liner for those of you who like to wear the muted pinks and dirty rose type colours!
There's a couple of MAC lipsticks that I can use as everyday shades and I find that these two are shades that are spoken about highly in the beauty community. The first one is Velvet Teddy which for ages was so difficult to find in any MAC store, and this is a deep beige toned lipstick that I find can dress any look up, I wear this both as an everyday lipstick and as an evening lipstick because it works so well with a lot of different makeup looks, and I would probably have to say that it is one of my favourite nude lipsticks to wear! The other shade from MAC is Brave which when I first starting wearing this was strange for me, because I'm someone who tends to wear matte finish lipsticks all the time, and this lipstick has a satin finish to it, but this is ridiculously easy to wear and feels so comfortable on the lips! This shade also holds some beige tone to it, but it is a lot more pink than Velvet Teddy, and I find that when I use this with the Whirl lip liner, it really is a 'mlbb' look, and it looks lovely for everyday makeup!

I think the lipstick that started off the pink and nude wearing for me personally is the lipstick Resist from Illamasqua and this is a brand that I haven't tried anything else from but when I saw this lipstick in their sale I couldn't resist - no pun intended - and so immediately picked it up! I would describe this is a wearable brighter pink and again is a rosey toned pink rather than fuchsia pink, and this is another matte lipstick and I do find that this can be a little bit drying on the lips if I wear it for a long period of time but that is probably due to the formula!
The next two lipsticks are both from Gerard Cosmetics and they are in the shades Buttercup and Rodeo Drive, which are both extremely wearable shades, that are non drying on the lips and have a pretty good longevity on the lips! Rodeo Drive is a shade that is pretty similar to the Illamasqua one, except a little bit darker and has more of a purple undertone to it, and this is one that I think would look good on anyone. Whereas Buttercup is a lot more of a nude shade with pink undertones to it and when applied to the lips it looks quite sheer due to the creamy formulation, and so I tend to use this one with a lipliner to make the lipstick more opaque.

The final lipstick that I used all the time when I first bought it is the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in the shade Nude-ist and I love these because they have a little doe foot applicator which makes them so easy to apply with or without a lipliner, and the opacity of these is unreal! I find that I only need one layer and the jobs done, these are technically a liquid lpstick and this shade in particular dries to a semi matte finish which I love and because of the finish, I tend to find that it lasts all day on my lips which I'm not complaining about however they can be quite drying which is the only downside! This shade in particular is pretty much Rodeo Drive in a liquid lipstick with a more matte finish to it.
I hope this was helpful to anyone wanting to try out more nude or pink lipsticks and if you have any reccomendations for other lipsticks that are similar to these, please let me know in the comments!

Winter Lips

I love the cold months, it means that the darker lipsticks make a reappearance with all varieties of red and berry tones to indulge in, however with the weather as it is at the moment, the chap sticks are coming out ready for preparations.

Rimmel London Kate Moss in 107: now, I love a good berry lip as much as the next person and I remember a couple of years back, I would never have gone near dark lipsticks as they were waaaay out of my comfort zone! But alas, I fell in love with this lipstick and its ones that pretty much every female owns! But this is a lipstick that isn't too dark for daytime wear, I love the fact that it's matte and a good matte considering its a drugstore brand!

Rimmel London Kate Moss in 01 & 30: these are both glossy finish lipsticks one being a deep red and the other being a wine colour - both the colours you would associate with the upcoming season! My personal favourite the 30 which the wine colour but either of these can be worn as a stain or a full on colour which I think is great for those who want to start wearing more daring colours because it doesn't have to be worn as a solid colour! I found that for shade 30 the Maybelline Colour Sensational Lip Liner in Midnight Plum works extremely well to line the lips!

L'Oreal Collection Privee Pure Reds in Blake's Red: one of the newest reds to come out in the drugstore and has been dubbed as one very similar to MAC’s Ruby Woo and I can see the resemblance and for someone who wouldn't want to pay out for MAC, this is a very good alternative and again for a drugstore brand, a very good matte lipstick that I find isn't too drying on the lips!

Collection Little Mix Lipstick in Perrie: a very cheap lipstick for those who are on a tight budget but still one that is in my favourites because I find the colour to be so unique considering the brand! The purple is one that is a lot lighter than the rest and can easily be wrong for a day or night time look and I find that this has pretty good staying power and is quite nourishing on the lips! I'd pick it up if you're on the hunt for lighter purple shade!

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Shame: this one is on the pricier end and one that won't be to everyone's likings, but last year I took the plunge and got the darkest lipstick I've ever bought! Now in the stick this looks incredibly scary and on the lips, it's still dark but it's one that I love to wear at night! You can bet that once this is on, it's going to be hard to get off but on the downside is that it's messy to apply and so a light and goes a long way!

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo: my favourite lipstick of the bunch, there is no doubt that if I could wear this everyday, I would! Daytime or night time this lipstick comes out to play and if you like a red lip, you should probably go and pick this up! I also pair this with the MAC Lip Liner in Cherry which a perfect combination! 

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Colour Balm Stain in Crush: the perfect berry shade for the people who don't like a full on colour because this is a very balmy and glossy and does stain the lips so the colour can be built up to be opaque or just left very sheer on the lips! I also like this because the product comes in a chunky pen form and this makes it so easy to apply!

Do you have any lip favourites for the upcoming months? 

Recent Purchases

When Boots have a 3 for 2 offer on, how can a girl resist a few new items? Now, I have to admit some of these items I didn’t even need, but if they are on the shelf, I'm probably going to end up taking them to the counter! I will point out though that not everything was bought from Boots, nor was everything bought on the one shopping trip; it was spread out over the course of three or four different occasions.

A few things I've had my eye on for a while (probably due to beauty bloggers raving about the items) and that seems to be why I buy half the stuff I don’t really need, but I do end up using it so I can’t complain! To make things a little easier because the list is quite long, I will group together items from the same brand.

REVLON

From Revlon I've picked up a few things recently and this isn’t usually a brand I go to often and I'm not sure why, because some of their products are pretty unbeatable and so I decided to go and stock up on the Revlon cosmetics. Everyone has raved about the Nearly Naked collection and instead of buying the foundation, I decided to buy the Nearly Naked Pressed Powder in the shade 010 Fair and from the few times I've used this (on top of foundation) the outcome has been incredible! I'm obviously not getting the “nearly naked” effect because the layer of foundation but it really does set the foundation while still giving me that natural colour from the powder itself. I've mainly used this as a powder that I use to touch up during the day because the packaging comes with a mirror and a foamy applicator, so it saves me carrying more than I need to! I also picked up the Photoready Skinlights Face Illuminator in the shade 100 Bare Light, and this is also something that everyone is beginning to go and buy so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and after the couple of times using this, it’s safe to say I think this will become a staple in the routine! Following in with the highlighting products, I got the Highlighting Palette in the shade 002 Rose Glow and as you would expect there is a variety of pale of pinks and shimmery whites that can act as a highlighter and blush all in one (what more could you need?!)

MAYBELLINE

Now, this brand used to be my go to, if I was in a drugstore, you would probably find me browsing this stand but just recently nothing has jumped out at me from this brand and so I haven picked up too many things from them. However what I have purchased is the Master Smoky Shadow Pencil in the shade Smoky Black and thinking back I have no idea why I picked this up but I am so glad I did! I get lazy when it comes to eyeliner and so this shadow pencil acts as my eyeliner and because it comes with a smudge applicator at one end, the shadow can be smudged out to create desired smoky or non-smoky look! Along with this, I also got The Falsies Volum’ Express mascara in Black Drama, and so far I haven’t been too fussed over this product and would probably choose to use other Maybelline mascaras over this one, but I will continue to use it and see if my opinion changes!

BOURJOIS

The only product I have ever owned from Bourjois is the Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder in 51 because it was always a brand I skipped when hunting for makeup. Alas I have loved this product so much that I am back for more from this brand! First off, I had to pick up another one of the bronzers, so I did that, and I think this product speaks for itself and I don't know of many beauty bloggers who haven't give this a try! Knowing that the bronzing powder was so good, I took it upon myself to look at a few reviews for the bronzing primer and I saw a lot of good things and so ultimately I went and picked one up. While having a browse at the Bourjois stand, I spied a foundation that intrigued me and it was the 123 Perfect Foundation in the shade 51 and this foundation supposedly has three correcting pigments to reduce dark circles, dull complexion and redness but we'll see if this really does match up to what it says and also what others have said in reviews about this product!

RIMMEL

I love this brand, there is no other way to say it, and so when I see a Boots 3 for 2, I'm obviously going to come home with something from Rimmel! The Stay Matte Primer was a must have for me because I prefer a matte finish to my face most of time and also I have been looking for a new primer, and the few times I've used this, I have to say, this is definitely a keeper! I also picked up too foundations and they are ones that I have previously used and so I knew that I would be getting my money's worth out of them! The first one is the Stay Matte Perfection Foundation in the shade Ivory and the second one is the Match Perfection Foundation in the shade Ivory, and I have to admit the only reason I had to repurchase these foundation was because I got one that was a shade too light in the Match Perfection and one that was a shade too dark in the Stay Matte... As you can see, I am no good at swatch testing in drugstores, I always seem to come home and realise I've bought the wrong colour!

SEVENTEEN

How did I only find out about this brand last year? No exaggeration. So, since finding out about this brand, I haven't actually bought anything from them, and then there was something that caught my eye and I'd been debating on getting it for a while! Guess what? I bit the bullet, and got it! Well actually, I got two, and they are the Blush Stamps and I got one in Made You Look and another in Blushin'. I am so excited to use these, they look so easy to use and the colours that I have chosen also look amazing (especially in time for spring!)

OTHER

Now, the rest of the products that I bought, I only purchased one thing from the brand, and so I will group these all together. First off, who doesn't like Soap and Glory? No one, that's what I thought and as I was innocently looking at the stand for Soap and Glory, I spotted the Sugar Crush Body Wash and can I just say if you haven't smelt this scent, you need to! It is like heaven in a bottle! But obviously I had to pick one of these up to go with the Scrub and Body Butter I already have that are in the same scent!

Something that everyone has raved about for a few years now is the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and it wasn't until now that I owned one of these because for so long I have used the Clinique Airbrush Concealer and I thought I would try out the Collection concealer because for the price even if I don't like it, I can't complain! I picked up the concealer in the shade Fair but I have yet to try this out!

Besides having lipsticks from Topshop, I've never thought to pick up any other make up items from them, but when I was in London a few weeks ago, I decided to try out of one of there blushers which I got in Afternoon Tea (which is one I had heard lots of good things about) and so far I love it, the colour is so pigmented and is a great pink shade ready for spring. The creamy texture is something I've never tried with a blush but I seem to be doing okay with it!

Okay, so one of the most talked about foundation for spring at the moment is the L'Oreal True Match which I got in the shade W1 Golden Ivory. I've never really tried out any L'Oreal foundations but if it's being talked about so much, I had to buy it, right? I've only used this a couple of times, and it is a little dark on my skin (but it'll be great for Summer) but it does what it says, it really does a give a finish look that matches your skin, and would look pretty flawless on people who don't have such problematic skin.

Another foundation that I'd been putting off buying for a long time now is the NARS Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc but I was browsing online and finally took the plunge and decided to order it because sadly I do not have a NARS Counter anywhere close to me. I was afraid the colour would suit me, but luckily I didn't waste my money, and I don't think it gets much better than this foundation especially for the brighter months! I can't pick out any fault in this, it gives that finish that is enough glow that is doesn't overpower, and you still use shimmers either on top or underneath! I honestly don't think I've stopped using this since it arrived in the post!

Something that got suggested to me a while back now are the egg shaped sponges you can get to apply many products and I went in the search of the Models Own ones knowing that you get two and if I didnt like them it wouldn't be too much of a waste however I came up empty handed and turned to the much loved Real Techniques and ended up buying the Miracle Sponge which I have yet to use but I'm sure I will love it because everything else from Real Techniques is brilliant!

The last thing I have to talk about is Effaclar Duo+ which I have seen a few beauty bloggers use in the past and I knew that I needed to get something to try and help out with my skin, because I have a lot of scars from previous acne problems and I also get redness and this cream is supposedly to help unclog blocked pores, correct the appearance of blemishes, refine skin texture, controls the appearance of shine and fight against the appearance of marks! I've been using this every night underneath my moistoriser since I bought this and I have noticed that the shininess that I had on my face has reduced cnsiderably as well as the appearance of some marks that I really wanted to be concealed! Hopefully with continues use, this cream will work wonders! 

What's In My (Makeup) Bag?

Lately I’ve been feeling a little uninspired as far as blog posts go, but I have been brainstorming and hopefully blog posts should be happening at a quicker pace. After reading through various blogs and waiting a fair few YouTube videos from other bloggers (beauty bloggers for the most part) and something that cropped up every so often was “what’s in my bag?” And so I’ve decided to do a similar post but instead of using a handbag which seems to be the way to take this, I'm going to use my makeup bag, just because it’s something I use more regularly.

I’ll just start off by saying that I do need to purchase myself a new makeup bag because although mine does the job it’s supposed to, it is rather small for the amount I try to carry in there but it’s also getting a bit grubby (as makeup bags tend to do.) But until then, I am using a makeup bag which was purchased from Next, quite some time ago although I wouldn’t hesitate in buying a makeup bag from them again. The products I'm going to talk about, I will try and do in some sort of order but I can’t guarantee that it will be the order that everyone else would want to use them in.

The first product is Dermalogica Ultra Calming Barrier Repair and this is something I use every day without fail, after I’ve cleansed and moisturised my face, this goes on my nose and cheeks which is where I tend to get a lot of redness and this just seems to calm it down considerably. I find that this is a product I reach for even on the days that I don’t wear makeup because having red cheeks and a red nose isn’t something I enjoy, but on the days I do wear makeup, this also works well as a primer for those areas. As for primer else where I am currently carrying the Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer around with me, but I wouldn’t recommend this people who suffer from oily skin because this seems to do barely anything for my foundation. I could say that it makes my foundation look worse and this does depend on what foundation I have chosen to use but it does tend to make me look a little cakey.

There are a few different powder products that I keep in my makeup bag and the first one is the holy grail of every girls make up routine, the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 001 Transparent. Now I don’t feel like I need to rave about this product too much, because a lot of other beauty bloggers have done that for, but let me just say that for the price of this product, everyone should own it. Everyone. No ones like a shiny face, and this just takes it away, effortless. There are currently two Sleek products that I own, and they both hold a place in my makeup bag, the first of these products is the Face Contour Kit in Light and this is something that I don’t tend to pull out too often because I've been going through a lazy stage where I just use bronzer to contour and I completely skip the highlighting stage. But I will say that this is a must have (if you are not lazy like me) because the pigmentation is amazing and I find that both the highlight and contour to this kit are brilliant, and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the product again because the price can’t be knocked. The other Sleek product in my makeup bag is one of the blushers in Pomegranate and I haven’t used this too many times because it’s one of those blushers that could look overpowering depending on the other makeup you are planning to put on, but the pigmentation is incredible for a high street blush, and the colour is beautiful in the pan (which is what originally drew me to this) and I hope to get a lot more use out of this. Staying with blushers, there is also one more that I keep in my makeup bag and this is the MAC blush in Fleur Power and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I use this blush pretty much every day because the colour is just that nice. What can I say about a MAC blush that hasn’t been said before? Pigmentation is one of the best (as you would expect) and the colour is just so easy to wear, because it looks very natural and I think it would be one of the go to colours of any season – well done MAC. The last powder product that I have in my makeup bag is the Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 51, and I'm being completely honest when I ask who hasn’t tried this bronzer because it is ah-ma-zing and this is no overstatement. For a high street product, there is nothing I can say that is bad about this product and I will continue to use it and I will most probably repurchase it (even though I have been eyeing up the Nars bronzers…)

As far as eye and eyebrow make up goes, I only carry two products with me all the time and that is my mascara which is the Maybelline Colossal Volume Express in Smokey Black and I have been using this mascara for as long as I remember and I do go through phases of buying new ones and I always seem to go back to this. It just seems to do something to my lashes that other mascaras can’t achieve and I also find that this is just the right shade of black, as weird as that may sound! The eyebrow product I carry round is the Benefit Brow Zings in Light, and I think I must use this at least 5 days of the week so I get my use out of this product and it doesn’t make my eyebrows look too dark (I have blonde hair) but it also gives them enough boldness so they define my face which is always a plus. However, I do have to admit on my lazy days, I do just bring out the MAC palette and pop some of Omega onto my brows. Finally the last thing I carry around in my makeup bag is a mirror – a must have!

2013 Favourites

We have landed in the year 2014, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to blog after feeling a little uninspired towards the end of last year. First thing I wanted to say was that I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and New Year, no matter where you were, or what you were doing!

Second thing is that I decided before the new year started that I wasn’t going to have a resolution because I knew that I wouldn’t stick it, but it wasn’t till I was having a conversation with a friend a couple of days ago that I realised what I needed my resolution for this year to be. And so, I have decided that my resolution is to be happier in myself by the end of the year, because right now I feel as though I could do a lot more to improve my self-confidence and to just feel happy as I am. But I suppose another one of my resolutions should be to update my blog more regularly because I have found that I am awful at updating, apologies for being such a procrastinator.

Thirdly, I have decided that this year, I want to do a jar full of memories, much like a lot of people did in 2013. I have seen the idea on Tumblr a few times and thought I’d jump on the bandwagon this year. And here’s to good year because I already have a few good things to put into it!

I wanted to make a mini favourites from 2013 including a few beauty products that I fell in love with during the past year and I will also include some random favourites, because you can never get enough of those. To start with beauty products, 2013 was a year that saw me trying a lot of new products whether it be skin care or make up, and this was a scary thing for me because I was always one of these people that didn’t like step outside the comfort zone of certain products and brands. But alas, I divulged in new products and found some that have become holy grails and I’m wondering how I coped without them before.

As far as my skincare regime goes, I tried a couple of new things last year and I have used nothing but them throughout the year and these were the TAAJ Himalaya Micellar water which is incredible for removing make up and it just makes my skin feel so refreshed before cleansing or moisturising. The only other product that I have used religiously is the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish hot cloth cleanser which I use after the micellar water and this product just makes the skin feels so fresh and clean (as silly as that sounds) but it is a staple product in my regime and without using it, I don’t feel fully ready.

I wanted to narrow down my makeup favourites because this is literally my weakness and I could just buy a lot of make up and say they're all my favourites. However, I have managed to do it and decided that as far as foundation goes my favourites were Rimmel Wake Me Upfoundation but I will say that this foundation is one that should be mainly used in the summer because while it does do what it says and makes you look more "awake" it can make you look too shimmery and shiny for the colder months. This meant that I had to find another foundation to use in the winter and one that I consistently went back to was Clinique Anti Blemish Solutions which is an incredible foundation, especially when my skin is prone to break out and has a lot of uneven skin tone and redness which this foundation just manages to cover amazingly. So well done Clinique, I don't know how you manage to do it, but please continue. Something that I find myself using a lot of is concealer - damn those blemishes - and so I do like to try out a few different ones to find out which covers my blemishes for me in the most effective way. I wouldn't say that I have a favourite one because I find that the ones I've tried, don't always cover what I'm trying to hide particularly well but the one I have found most effective is Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer - but I do believe the version I have has now been discontinued. This concealer just has a great consistency, with it being thick it does manage to cover a lot but I do find that I have to top it up because it does seem to disappear during the day but that might just be my skin!

There's only been one powder I have used this year and it has been Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in the shade transparent and oh my, it's my holy grail! If you don't want to look shiny, go get it. If you want to set your foundation, go get it. Just go get it! I didn’t really have a staple blusher that I used all year round but I did use the Bourjois Delice De Poudre, not only is the pigmentation in this great for all the seasons but it also smells like chocolate, so that made it a must have!

The mascara that was my favourite for 2013 has been my favourite for a few years now and that is the Maybelline Colossal Volume which I do believe makes me lashes fuller and longer than they truly are, so I will continue to use this mascara in the hopes it doesn’t get discontinued. However, I was introduced to the Benefit They’re Real! mascara last year and this is also an amazing mascara but the only thing I find is that it is difficult to take off and so I tend not to use it as often as my other mascara. It was really hard for me to pick a favourite eyeshadow and so I decided on a few that I used all the time and these were MAC Satin Taupe, MAC Naked Lunch and also MAC Sable. There is just something about MAC’s eyeshadows that I love and I think part of it is the incredible pigmentation in them and they do last all day which is something to look for in an eyeshadow! I have also found the MAC Pigment in Vanilla which I use for the inner corner of my eye and it just brightens the eye and gives it that finishing touch which I like.

As far as random favourites go, this year a new band have entered my life and become an obsession of mine, I first saw 5 Seconds of Summer as One Direction’s support act and I thought they were incredible! Since then I have seen them perform five times and I will continue to tweet them until they know of my existence. Another random favourite of mine is One Direction’s Midnight Memories CD which I know only came out towards the end of the year, but I still fell in love with it before the year was up and so it deserved a mention in my favourites. I think the songs on the new album are a lot mature than the previous albums and I love love love the rocky sound they are going for at the minute, but to be fair, that band could do anything and I think I would still adore them..! The last favourite of the previous year is The Fault in Our Stars and I know that 2013 was the year for this book but I can see why, it’s so heart wrenching you can’t not fall in love with it, I read it too many times and I can’t wait for the movie to come out this year so I can fall in love with the story all over again.