A Lip Product Love Affair...

I may have mentioned before, that lip products are one of my weak spots when it comes to beauty. Anything from bog standard lip balms to bold eye-catching lipsticks, if it's the newest I want to try it, if it's the brightest, I want to buy it!

So let's start with lip care, taking good care of your lips is obviously important. Your gorgeous shades of lipstick just won't look as attractive if you've got flaky lips will they? I use a few different bits and bobs to keep my lips nice and smooth. Firstly then, what female doesn't own a pocket-sized or in my case handbag-sized Vaseline? My favourite is the aloe vera variety, however I'm pretty sure I have just about every type you can buy in the UK.  I'm also a fan of minty lip balms and my favourite is Burt's Bees (who'd have guessed?!) I think it does a really good job of repairing cracked lips.  However these oil based products are no good in the sunshine, taking care of your skin in the sun is obviously really important, your lips should be no different!  So I use the Maybelline Baby Lips, which is SPF 15, so whilst nourishing my lips it also protects them from getting burnt.  Another plus is that this one smells amazing, I have it in cherry flavour.

The final product from my lip care selection, I have mentioned before, the popcorn lip scrub from Lush. I absolutely adore this product, lip scrubs go that extra mile for me as far as lip care is concerned and I cannot resist the taste/smell of this one. It's definitely a Holy Grail item.

The next category then is sheer lip colours or lip butters.  Special mention in this category has to go to the Revlon lip butters, I have a fair few in my collection now and I just can't get enough.  I love the fact that they are super nourishing and they have a splash of colour and are just so wearable.  However I have chosen a top three in this category and they are as follows...

Firstly then the Clinique 'Chubby Stick' in the shade 'Oversized Orange'.  Again a product I've mentioned before on my blog, it's a gorgeous summery orange and a really nice smooth formula. The Chubby Sticks are all really wearable as a day time lip product, as they are so sheer, this is my favourite colour though.   Secondly a pick from the Lip Butters, in the shade 'Juicy Papaya' (you'd never guess I liked corals/oranges), I've already said why I am so head-over-heels for this Revlon rage, but this is probably my current favourite shade, it's very coral-y which of course I love for the summer.  Finally a little gem from the YSL Rouge Volupte Shine range, this one is in the shade 'Nude in Private" and as the name suggests it is indeed a nude shade.  Not something I'd usually go for, admittedly but there comes a time when every girl needs a nude lipstick and this one is just perfect. It's one of those 'your lips but better' sort of styles where you almost can't tell you've got a lipstick on at all.  YSL have also created such a gorgeous formula in this range, it's so smooth and smells great too!

Finally, I couldn't write a post on lip products without discussing lipsitcks. I've chosen my top three shades again, starting with M.A.C 's 'Chilli' ,this may in fact be my favourite shade from my collection it's a sort of burnt orange-y red. This is actually a matte lipstick which I wouldn't have chosen as a formula for me, they're usually too drying, however I got this one as a gift and I love the shade so much I couldn't even care what the formula was like (fortunately it's not too drying!).  Second in line then, is one I mentioned in my May favourites, from the Rimmel Kate Moss range, this is in the shade 110 and it has quickly risen to be one of my lipstick top picks.  Finally a newcomer; from Revlon's Colour Stay Ultimate Suede'  and I have the shade 'Preview' which is a nice rose-pink shade.  I realised recently that all my lipsticks are red or orange and it was time to get a pinker shade, and this one really caught my eye. Also really really like this new range from Revlon; is very long lasting and a nourishing formula too, Revlon never fail with their lip products for me!

 

So that's that, my lip product addiction so far. Thanks for reading guys! Please let me know about any of your favourite lip products, or any you'd recommend I try!

May Favourites!

Hi all! Okay so a little late (I've been super busy recently) but here's my favourite bits and bobs from the month of May!

Let us dive straight in then, I'll start off with the body products up the back there.  Firstly Original Source's mint and walnut scrub; I've been an Original Source fan for some time, you can usually find them pretty cheap in most super markets and drug stores and they're all natural which is something I like in any product. .  I really love minty body washes, they leave you feeling so, so fresh and tingly, it really is a brilliant wake-me-up scent.  Also the " 6'989 bits of wall nut shell" as Original Source put it, add a little extra exfoliation to a super refreshing body wash- I'd highly recommend it!

Secondly then is Garnier's "Ultimate Beauty Oil". This oily body moisturizer comes with a spray so it's sooo easy to apply, and just feels really nice and nourishing.  I have to admit I am painfully lazy when it comes to moisturizing my body but this makes it easy, just spray it all over, and smear it in. Good to go!

The next product comes from what may be my favourite beauty brand of all time - Burt's Bees.  As I mentioned I'm a lover of natural products and that's what this brand is all about and in the month of May I've been using this Burt's Bees banana hand cream all the time. Now I will say if you're not a fan of banana as a fragrance then steer clear of this one, it's a very strong smell.  However, I am a hand cream addict and personally I do love the smell of bananas, this is just such a rich and luxurious hand cream.  It takes a while to soak in so I often use it at night and when I wake up my hands feel super smooth and smell amazing!

On to lip products then, above is a lip scrub from Lush in the flavour pop corn. And Oh. My. God this smells and tastes AMAZING.  I know, right, it's not meant for eating but seriously; try giving your lips a scrub with this and not licking it off?! Lip scrubs are great for getting rid of dry skin on your lips and making them look gorgeous and smooth.

  Bellow we have a little sample of my favourite May lipstick and it's from the Rimmel Kate Moss collection in the shade 107.  First off I just have to say, although I adore the formula of these lipsticks, it makes me really sad that they don't have a shade name, am I the only one that's a sucker for a good shade name? 

That aside I do love the colour, it's a pretty coral/pink is the best way I can describe it, and this collection of lipsticks always smell amazing and have a really nourishing formula.

I thought for a change this month I'd throw in a fashion item, these little earrings are from New Look and were ridiculously cheap (£1.50?!). They're just really cute peace symbol studs, they're slightly over-sized and hang down a bit off the ear lobe, and I've been wearing them tons this month as they seem to just go with everything I wear!

So that's it for this month, hope you've enjoyed reading about my favourite products and I'd love to hear about yours! Don't be afraid to drop me a comment.

Peace out. ;)

Laura Mercier, moisture supreme...

So there's a little story behind my recent foundation purchase...I've been using MAC's satin finish mineralize foundation (correct me if I've gotten the name wrong) for about a year now and I thought I'd never find another love quite like it. Recently however, I've been running low and using a little of Rimmel's wake me up foundation to compensate. Unfortunately, I just don't think the Rimmel one is for me. There doesn't seem to be a tone to match my skin and I find it a bit heavy for my taste, although I do adore the smell, who knew a foundation could smell so good?  Anyway I thought it was about time I popped into MAC for a foundation refuel.  Then, the inevitable happened...they were sold out of my colour (NW20) in store AND online. I was told by the saleswoman it'd be a few weeks and, well I just couldn't wait that long, obviously.  So being me, already lost in Harvey Nichols make-up paradise, I had to take a wander over to the Laura Mercier counter.

Long story short, the fantastically camp salesman colour matched me and I was wooed by a mixture of his charm and the perfect match I'd found for my skin, in the shade "blush ivory".

So of course I got home eager to try it out and couldn't help but compare it to my previous love; the MAC foundation.  Over the past week or so I've been using Laura Mercier everyday and I've found it definitely has it's pros and cons.  Firstly, as I hope the above picture demonstrates, it really does have the dewy glow I was looking for, I'm not a fan of heavy duty foundations, I like enough to cover up blemishes but not so much I look like I need a good scrub, y'know?

I found it blends into the skin really nicely, as the sales assistant informed me it "knows" when your skin needs hydration, perfect for combination skin. As far as I can tell it really does seem to inject moisture into my dry cheeks, without creating too much oil in the t-zone. The only thing I'd say I don't like is how liquid-y it is? If that makes sense. I found the MAC one to be reasonably thick so I didn't have to use loads at one time,whereas I feel like I'm using lots more of this one. The Laura Mercier is quite a bit more expensive too so I don't really want it running out too soon!

I have to say I'm still not 100% sure if this will be the start of a new love affair, and if MAC foundation will be long forgotten. However if it weren't for the price tag Laura Mericer would almost definitely be a winner!
Here are a couple of mug shots below, of a finished look with the foundation.  Let me know what you think!

Hope you had a pleasurable read, and please let me know about any experiences and opinions of any of the foundations mentioned!

Recent Favourites

Hey guys, so I thought my first blog post should be about a few of the items I've been loving the past little while. So here are those little gems...

 First of all I've been looking for a nice eye palette for, like, ever. So a couple of months ago, with my birthday coming up I thought I'd go for one of the hyped-up Urban Decay naked palettes. However, I ran out of time to go to my nearest Debenhams for a peek at this blogger holy grail, and found myself wandering aimlessly round Boots instead...enter the Stila stand.

This little beauty caught my eye, and I fell instantly in love. It's just such a great everyday palette, mostly I've been using a mixture of the second closest one, top row (kitten) which is a gorgeous shimery champagne colour, with a pinky undertone (my best attempt at description). Along with the farthest away in the top row (sandstone) in the crease, this one is just a nice natural, matte brown.  Actually I also use sandstone for my brows, so a great all-rounder.  There's also a 'smudge stick' eyeliner in "damsel", which is nice but I'm not a huge eyeliner fan.

For the afore mentioned birthday, I received a cheeky little Boots voucher, so it wasn't long before I was back  wandering the isles for faaar too long.  Firstly I picked up the Revlon powder blush in '003 Perfectly Peach'. As the name suggests it's a lovely pink toned peach, and as much as I wanted to take the plunge into cream blushes, I'm just not ready yet. This is a perfect spring blush and has become a staple in my daily make-up routine. Secondly this Thermal Spring Water, from La Roche-Posay; a really gorgeous and relatively inexpensive refreshing spray. I just love the way it feels on my skin, and it's been great for reducing redness too. I guess it's sort of along the same lines as the Caudalie beauty elixir just a great, refreshing moisture spray and I use it morning and night!

I am a self-confessed lip product addict, there's no denying it. A recent addition is the Clinique chubby stick in Oversized Orange. Not sure if the pout-y lip shot does it justice but this has been my go-to lip product recently. A really sheer balm with a bit of a coral/orange colour to it, easy to wear and great for Spring/Summer (if we ever get one in Scotland).

Finally, then another little gem from OPI.  As I'm off to Berlin at the end of the month I though, I just had to pick up a shade from the Germany collection, obviously. This is the shade 'Berlin There Done That' (couldn't resist). Of course, I bought it mainly because of the name, however I do actually love the colour. It's not been at all sunny  up here the past month so the taupe/cement shade has been a perfect match for the weather.

So thanks for reading everyone, let me know what products you've been loving recently!