Lipstick Fix

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a lipstick girl. Ever since I started wearing make up, lipstick was the thing I enjoyed most. Around the house, I'm partial to a lip balm, to moisturise, but never, ever lipgloss. I just don't like the feel of them, or the fact they don't give you much colour.  In fact, I'm only just coming round to the idea of lipsticks that aren't entirely matte. So, for me, the most depressing thing about having a cold, like I do at the mo, is not wearing lipstick. Obviously it is possible to wear lipstick while you have a cold, but I find that lipstick's just don't go with a Rudolph nose, especially the red's that I favour. 

Make up as a whole is a bit of a nightmare during a cold, foundation doesn't sit well on a dry, chapped nose, and a few seconds after you apply, you sneeze and all your foundation ends up on your tissue! Not to mention the mascara running down your face. But, anyway, to get the point, I though I'd do a post on my lipstick collection. I'm hoping that seeing, and writing, about my different lipsticks will give me the lipstick fix I am craving at the moment!

I've sorted them into colours; Orange, Pink, Purple and Red.

Orange

Barry M Lip Paint, Ruby and Millie Lipstick in 350 Orange (Cream finish)

• Unfortunately the name and number of the Barry M lip paint has rubbed off the bottom! It's a very nice, bright coral colour. The Ruby and Millie lipstick is not as a bright, and has a bit more of a red tone to it. Barry M is the more matte of the two, and last's for longer than the Ruby and Millie one does, although it isn't as creamy, and therefore it's harder to apply. 

 Pink

Barry M Lip paint's in 100 Baby Pink and 52 Shocking Pink.

•  This pale pink is a great one to go for if you've got statement eye makeup on, and the shocking pink is ALOT brighter than it show's up in this picture!

 Purple

17 New Black, Ruby and Millie 585 Purple (matt) and MAC's Cyber (satin)

 

•  I've really been loving purple lipsticks at the moment, and these three are all lovely. As this picture shows, Cyber is the darkest of the three, and the other two are more red. Cyber is my favourite as I find the colour lasts the longest, and is the most purple!

 Red

Ruby and Millie's Red 476 (Pearl), Red 490 (cream) and Red 420 (Matte), Stargazer 106, Rimmel London Volume Booster in 080 Screamer and MAC's Ruby Woo (Retro Matte).

•  As you can see, I like my Reds! My favourite, colour wise is Ruby and Millie's 420, third in from the left, as it is the truest red I have found so far. My favourite in terms of finish is definately MAC's Ruby Woo in the Retro Matte finish, as it is totally matte! There's no need to use Lipcote to keep this one on, it doesn't budge at all!

So that's my Lipstick collection so far. Next time I buy a lipstick I'm going to try and force myself to try a new colour, maybe a lavender or nude, because, as you can see, I'm stuck in a bit of a colour rut!

A small (but expensive!) haul.

So, as it was my birthday recently, and I had a few extra poundies in my account, I decided to visit a few makeup counters. I went on a little trip to the Bullring in Birmingham, (which is the most amazing place to shop btw!), to have a little look around. After mooching around in Selfridge's for a while, I decided to try a few MAC products. I have only ever tried MAC foundations before, but have always heard really good things about their lipsticks. I browsed the colours for about twenty minutes (they have a lot of colours!), thinking that really I should branch out and try a new colour (like a nude) but plumped for colours I wear quite a lot of already, a red and a purple.

MAC's Ruby Woo (Retro Matt Finish) and Cyber (Satin Finish)

I have to say, I'm really impressed by the quality of MAC lipsticks, and I love the smell! At first, it seemed strange putting something with such a strong smell on your lips, but once you're used to it, you barely notice the scent! They last well, have great pigmentation and the colour range is amazing. The retro matt finish is quite drying, so I wouldn't recommend it for someone with dry lips, but is my dream lipstick! When I wear a normal lipstick, I have to blot and apply Lipcote, as I hate reapplying throughout the day, and the 'have I got lisptick on my chin' fear that comes with freshly applied lip colour. With the Retro Matt, once it's on your lips, it's there to stay! It barely comes off on glasses, food and is practically kiss proof! Amazing. 

Cyber is a gorgeous colour, but as I favour a matt look, a Satin finish isn't really for me. I apply this like my normal lipsticks, blotting and using Lipcote, and find that it lasts well, although the colour can seem to separate after a few hours, but I find that's a problem with every dark lipstick i've used.

I also bought MAC's lip liner in Nightmoth to go with Cyber, and I find filling in the lips with this first gives the best results.

At the till, on an impulse, when the lovely lady serving me asked if there was anything else I wanted, I asked for the blusher in Melba. I LOVE buying new blushers almost as much as lipsticks, and Melba seems to be everyones fave. Like the lipsticks, I was not left disappointed by this product! A gorgeous peachy coral, this adds a really pretty, natural flush, and the colour payoff was superb.

The last thing I bought was another blusher from Topshop. I think by then i was on a shopping high, as I definately did not need another blusher! I thought I  picked up Pop, which was quite similar to Melba, but i actually picked up Powdered. 

Powdered is a bright, yet still baby pink and looks lovely paired with MAC's Cyber, and a really high bun in the hair.

Tophop powder blusher in Powdered, MAC powder blusher in Melba

L-R: Melba, Powdered.  Top to bottom: Cyber, Ruby Woo, Nightmoth

 Prices:

• The Topshop blushers are £6 which seems quite reasonable. The packaging, and colour, are gorgeous, and the pigmentation was really good. Definately worth the money. 

• The MAC lipsticks are £13.50, and I am so impressed with them! I really want to buy loads more!

• The MAC lip liner was £10.50, and is good, but i'm not sure that I saw much difference between it and a cheaper version, although MAC does have more colours available than most cheaper companies.

• The MAC blusher was £17, which is quite steep but I can see it lasting a long time!

I can feel a MAC lipstick obsession coming on!

My first Glossybox!

So, after a while of debating whether to or not, I finally subscribed to Glossybox. I'm sure most of you know what that is, but incase you don't, I'll try and briefly explain the idea. Basically, you pay £12.95 a month (including P&P) and you recieve a parcel with 5 luxury, high end miniatures. The miniatures could be skincare, makeup, hair care, nail varnish or perfume, and some of the brands they've used so far are Illamasqua, OPI, hd brows and Batiste. I decided I would try it out one night after reading that you can cancel your subscription at any point, so I thought I'd get my first one and make my mind up from then. When the parcel turned up this morning I was so excited, the packaging is gorgeous! 

This is the outer packaging, with my phone covering my address!

This is the box inside..it's like pass the parcel!

My favourite bit! The ribbon is such a cute touch.

As well as the products inside, you also get a card with a note from the glossybox team, and a description of all the products you recieve, where you can buy them, and prices for the full size. 

In this Glossybox, (their 6th, incase you're interested..), I recieved:

• Dermalogica Age Smart Multivitamin Thermafoliant
• Dermalogica Age Smart Multivitamin Power Recover Masque
• Leighton Denny Expert Nails Colour and Care in Hanky Panky
• Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Moray
• Robert Piguet Eau de parfums (Fracas,Visa and Calypso)

As an added bonus to mark their 6 month milestone they also included a small Dermalogica bag (would be a handy makeup bag) and Dermalogica Age Smart Renewal Lip Complex.

As i've only just got them, I can't do a full review yet, but I will give you a few thoughts I've had and some pictures...

How everything arrived..

The three Dermalogica products and bag

I'm excited to try Dermalogica products because I've heard they're really impressive. The only downside is that I'm not really worried about signs of ageing yet, I would have prefered something for skin discolouration or acne prone skin, but I suppose It's never too early to fight wrinkles!

The three Eau de parfum's

On first sniff, these seem a bit grown up for me, I tend to prefer floral or really sweet scents. I'll give them a proper go this week, they may grow on me!

Stila waterproof eyeliner in Moray.

This shimmery green metallic eyeliner is really pretty, and REALLY waterproof. I think this would look gorgeous smudged out into an eyeshadow over the whole lid.

This is a gorgeous shimmery orange, I cant wait to try it! It's also a full size at 12ml and worth £11!

I'll try these out and do a more indepth review in a few weeks, I don't think I'll cancel my subscription, getting a box of treats every month is gunna feel like my birthday every month! Very exciting. 

If anyone else is subscribed, I'd love to know what you think of it :)

No7 Purifying Sauna Mask Review

No7 is not a brand I can say I know much about, so when I was given a "£5 off No7" voucher recently, I wasn't sure what to use it on (being a bargain lover, the idea of not spending the voucher didn't occur to me, even though there wasn't anything I actually needed!). Having since read quite a few reviews, I would now know to use it on the Quick Thinking 4 in One Wipes, which seem to really impress people. As I am a lover of face masks, and because I had a bit of a spot erruption on my chin at the time, I gravitated to the section which held deep cleaning products. Eventually I settled on the Purifying Sauna Mask, (I am a total sucker for names, and the idea of a sauna mask hooked me straight away!), which was £6 after the voucher discount.

As the mask was self heating, I imagined it would be lovely for opening up my pores, and giving those pesky spots a bit of a seeing to. I have had this product for about a month, and tried it about 7 or so times, so I feel I've given it enough chance to impress me. 
 
Firstly, I'll start with the pros's..

1. Smells nice (Possibly due to the Rosehip oil it contains)
2. It really does feel lovely the way it heats on your skin
3. Would probably work very well on oily skins

Now for the con's (slightly longer list unfortunately)..

1. Quite pricey...even with the voucher, £6 for 75ml seems a lot, and there is no way I would pay the original £11 for it!
2. The heating sensation only lasts for a few seconds
3. The pumice grains in this are quite rough, and it does feel rather like you are sandpapering your face
4. Leaves a chalky residue on the face no matter how you try and take it off 
5. Really dry's the skin, even after the first use my face felt tighter and had dry, flaky patches
6. Doesn't actually help with spots (although, it didn't break me out..)

So, overall, I wasn't impressed, but I can see how this could work for oily skin types. Definitely not worth £11!

September Favourites..

Doing favourites seems like an easy way to get into the swing of this blogging lark, so here are the products I reached for most in September! 

• Natural Collection Vanilla Body Spray- a lovely, cheap body spray that lasts for hours.  I wear this every day!
• Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Alabaster- the only foundation I have ever found that is pale enough for me. Quite full coverage, really nice finish.   
• Ben Nye Lip Brush- really good for applying lipstick, especially if you haven't got a lipliner in the right colour.
• Soap and Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser- gorgeous for cleansing the skin and removing makeup. Has a really nice texture that turns oil like on the skin, and smells like lavender.
• 17 Lastin Fix Lipstick in New black - dark red/purple colour, which isn't matte or drying on the lips
• The Pink Cow shower gel in Mint Candy- already spoken about this, i'm totally obsessed!
• Clarins Wonderlength mascara in black- great mascara with a really thin wand. Lengthens  amazingly, and adds thickness if wiggled at the base of lashes.
• Cosmic Radiance perfume- Britney's tenth scent, I own them all! This one smells a bit like Lenor or some other fabric softener, not too overpowering or strong.
• Cocoa Butter vaseline- smells delish! 

If anyone else has any favourites, feel free to write them or link them below, I love reading them! x

A-Z of me tag :)

Found this tag on Sprinkle Of Glitter's blog, which I would link if I could work out how! Im sure you've all heard of her, she's one of my absolute fave bloggers/youtubers :)

Anyway, thought this tag looked fun, so here we go!

The A-Z of Me!

Age:19, but 20 in 6 days!

Bed Size: Single pringlee

Dogs: Yes, any breed! Especially scotties and westies :)

Essential start of your day: Tea! and lots of it.

Favourite Colour: Red

Gold or Silver: Silver

Height: 5"4 last I checked

Instruments I play: I'm partial to a glockenspiel..

Job Title: Sales consultant

Kids: None yet!

Live: Bristol

Mum's name: Nicola

Nickname: Rubes, Scoobs, Lubes, Scruff

Pet Peeve: Bad grammar, and spelling..

Quote from a movie: "Excuse much, rude or anything?!" Buffy the vampire slayer film.

Right or left handed: Right.

Siblings: Lil bro, Jack.

Time you wake up: About 6 if im working, looooots later if i'm not!

Underwear: I prefer the fuller sized brief!

Vegetables you dislike: None! I should be a lot healthier than I am...

What makes you run late: My inability to get out of bed when i'm all snug!

X-rays you've had done: None..how boring!

Yummy food you make: I can just about manage toast. I don't know how i'll ever survive if i move out!

 

Zoo Animal: Penguins!

 

Thanks to anyone who reads this, i tag all of you! 

Two genius Lush products..

I popped into lush recently to have a look around, and stumbled across these two products. The first is Grease Lightening, a spot gel I'd heard lots of good things about. It costs £5.65 for 45g and is definitely worth it! It wont work miracles on your skin, but what it will do is take away a lot of the redness in any spots, and ,with repeated use,  get rid of them. The only draw back to this product is that it can leave your skin a bit dry if you put too much on, but that can be said of most spot treatments. 

The next product is something I have been lusting after for a while! In winter I always find I get chapped lips, so a lip scrub is a must! The lush lip scrub is £4.95 for 25g and comes in three amazing flavours! I chose the Mint Julips but there is also Sweet Lips, which tastes like chocolate and vanilla, and Bubblegum (self explanatory!). The best thing, they're edible! If you follow the lip scrub with a balm, you'll have smooth, soft lips in no time! I think I may have to go back for the other two flavours...