My Favourite Nude Lipsticks For All Budgets! | Maybelline, Bourjois, Collection

Having naturally darker pigmented lips makes finding a nude lipstick more difficult. Here are my favourite nude lipsticks for NC30-35 skin tones!
I would always recommend heading in-store to see what a shade of lippy looks like, these may not work for everyone.

L-R

Maybelline colour sensational lipstick in My Mahogany, 225
Maybelline moisture extreme lipstick in Pinky Beige, 721
Collection (2000) lasting colour lipstick in Lasting Rose, 13
Bourjois Rouge Edition lipstick in Rose Tweed, 04


As you can tell, I tend towards more browny-mauvey nudes, which compliment yellower skin tones.

All of these choices are very hydrating, slightly sheen and have an average wear depending on how much you eat and drink with them! They may seem very pink, but when worn they are quite a lot nuder!


Hope that helps, L x

Charlotte Tilbury Eyeshadow Quads - Golden Goddess and Dolce Vita

Golden Goddess and Dolce Vita

Sorry about the picture, I can't find the rotate image button on Blogger.... #fail


But the orientation of the image still doesn't deter your attention from the amazingness that is the CT Eyeshadow Quads.

They are designed for Desk, Dusk and Disco looks (check out her website for tutorials!). So the are very multi-functional.

First, a light base/highlight colour in the top left, the going clockwise around the quad we have a base/possibly a crease shade, then a defintion shade and lastly a pop of colour for the centre of the lid (usually a glitter).

When I first used them I thought they weren't very pigmented, especialy for the price. However, I think that's the point. It's a gradual build up colour that is acheived with no effort at all. All the shades blend nicely, and I particularly have been enjoying the highlight colour of the Dolce Vita palette.

Overall, these are nice, travel-friendly, multi-functional palettes. I can get so many looks from just one quad! Worth the investment, especially if you can get 10% off like I did from Selfridges ;)

Have you tried any CT eyeshadows? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts and possibly a recommendation for my next one!

L x

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Lipstick in Bond Girl

Quick review today of my favourite matte lip: CT's Bond Girl,

It's a mauve/red and looks beautiful on NC30 skin. Perfect for that "your lips but better" effect.

For a matte lipstick especially, it glides on and stays in place for a good 5/6 hours before needing to reapply. It's quite creamy for a matte lip, and surprisingly the ingrediants make sure to keep your lips nourished.

Another fantastic product from the CT range. I've also purchased a few CT quads, so watch out for those on the blog tomorrow.

Which CT lip products have you tried?

L x

FeelUnique haul | Palmers, REN, First Aid Beauty

A quick haul post today from Feel Unique!

Items:
Palmers coconut oil shampoo and conditioner
First Aid Beauty Radiance Pads
REN evercalm gentle cleansing milk


So Caroline Hirons is my new-found skincare guru. I ordered the REN and FAB items because of her wisdom. My routine is all wrong at the moment, and to correct it I'm adding a crucial step - acid toning!
Sounds scary I know, but the AHA/BHA's exfoliate and brighten the skin, without the use of harsh abrasives. Check out her blog for more information, but you should definitely read into the idea before jumping out and buying AH Liquid Gold or anything!

Anyway, I bought the FAB radiance pads (60 per pot) for acid toning, and the REN cleansing milk to use with a hot flannel in the mornings. I can get sensitive, dry skin so the milk properties help to nourish the skin.

I then bought the Palmer's shampoo and conditioner, because everyone knows how good coconut oil is for your hair! Plus, these are huge, and for around £3-4 each it's pretty good value. I've used them once so far, and my hair was very soft and had a subtle coconut scent.

That's all for today.

What recent purchases have you made from Feel Unique?

L x

Best Eyeshadows Ever? | Makeup Geek

Colours: Drama Queen (top) and Sensuous

So I made my first order with Makeup Geek after hearing so much about them. Apparently, it's a beauty blogger/makeup artist in America, who takes all the fantastic qualities of high end eyeshadows, like MAC and NARS, having worked with their products for so long, and produces her own quality, affordable eyeshadows.

These can be purchased at Makeupgeek's website, and shipping isn't too bad! I only order two standard eyeshadows at once, as this keeps the total cost under the £15 or so that is the maximum to avoid import taxes, which can be a lot in this country!
So for around £13 I am delivered two amazing eyeshadows.
My first batch contains two purple shades: drama queen and sensuous.

The swatches on the website looked good, but I had to see for myself. I was blown away.

You can see from the picture above that one swipe does it all, especially with the darker shades. I haven't tested longeivity, but I'm sure with a good primer these babies will stay put.
I use an eBay Z palette dupe to store these, and I find that these actually stick better than my MAC pans.

Overall, I am very impressed and wouldn't hesistate in buying them all. At around $5 these are a steal, and are very close to becoming my all-time favourite eyeshadows.


Have you tried any? Shade recommendations more than welcome!! L x

Best Felt Eyeliners Ever? | Essence | Quick Review!

I was browsing the Essence stand at Wilko when I came across these eyeliner felt pens. I picked up two, one waterproof and one superfine.

I was immediately impressed with the length of the superfine, it's so long! This reminds me of the Tom Ford liner, as this too has a long brush, making eyeliner application easier.

 

The colours is really black, and the application is smooth and didn't budge one bit when rubbed for either one. 

Don't get me wrong, I love my Rimmel, but these are very close to being my new favourite!

Have you tried these? At £2.50 each I'd thoroughly recommend it! L x

(They have a dual ended one too!)

Hotel Minis

My first try of Emerelle Spa and Molton Brown after receiving a few samples of family and from the Premier Inn I stayed in! So far, loving the Molton Brown range - the scents are lovely. I'm saving the nspa range for my next holiday, however I can't see much use of a shampoo without a conditioner!

Rimmel Scandaleyes

Rimmel are my favourite, reliable eyeliner brand and I'd recommend them to anyone looking for affordable eye pencils and felt pens. 

The thick and thin eyeliner is quite difficult to use, and so I generally stick to the micro liner. 

Disappointing Kohls.... I'll just leave these here....

All of these smudge, fade and generally are pretty awful, which is a shame for some cases!

Lip Haul - MAC, L'oreal, Rimmel, Max Factor

Rimmel Kate? Love!

Gorgeous lippy, loving the whole line at the moment.

Glam Matte gloss? Like! 

Nice glossy finish with great pigmentation - but stain doesn't last very well.

Lipfinity duo? Love!!

Great duo, great colour and good lasting power. Very weird and dry without balm. 

I also purchased a few MAC products:

Mac Select Cover up Concealer in NC35

MAC lipstick in Plumful

As you can see, the select cover up concealer concealer the lipstick stain quite well. It's great for concealing blemishes. 

MAC Haul - Swatches Continued

MAC studio sculpt NC30 foundation

Capricious and Russian Red

MAC Haul - Picture Post

Nc30

Capricious and Russian Red

NARS Isolde

Nars eyeshadow are the best on the market in my opinion. Having sampled a lot of brands in my life, including MAC, i'm pretty sure these come out on top. 

They are super pigmented, blendable and smooth. Isolde is a duo containing a dark gold and a light gold - perfect for a night out. Pictured above next to a NARS lip gloss in New Lover (which is also lovely). 

If I recommend any brand to you guys, it would be NARS. The price will put some off, but if you buy NARS products from ASOS there are regularly discounts that you can benefit from. 

L x

BareMinerals Marvellous Moxie Lip Gloss Minis

I was lucky enough to bag these cute minis from Feel Unique before Christmas in fact, simply because a lot of Christmas sets are reduced before Boxing Day sales. I believe that this came in at around £14 and to be honest, I was expecting slightly larger versions. This was an impulse purchase so I don't think I read into it enough!

There are 7 mini lip glosses (0.8ml each) that came in the kit, and each have their own lovely colour, pigmentation and little shimmer. As with most lipglosses these don't wear very long but otherwise a nice set to try out some of the range. However, I don't think I would ever buy this at full price (£16). 

Hope you had an awesome Christmas, what bargains did you find?