Every since I got into beauty, I have always been drawn to neutrals, (except from the blue eyeshadow phase I'm sure we all had when we were too young to know that golds and browns existed). It's time to take a tour of the best neutral lip colours I have in my collection - varying in price and formula.
First on the menu is the Gosh Soft and Shine Lip Balm in Scarlet - nowhere near anything scarlet, but a neutral worth getting if you can locate these anywhere, I found mine a long time ago in a clearance. This gives just the right amount of nude, with a hint of pinkish plum, all in a balmy, comfortable formula, still giving good pigmentation. Love.
Up next is the Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss which is just a lipbalm with a hint of tint, of a peachy, shimmery, nude, which is my go to, when I am just slathering something on without a mirror, as you can't really go wrong.
The Natural Collection Autumn Sunset Sheer Natural Lip Colour and being the cheapest of the bunch, is actually pretty darn good. It is a perfect nude, and I don't look washed out at all, as it is slightly pinky, and is sheer too, as the name suggests, and so gives a slightly glossy, nude wash to the lips.
Opposite to the above, this is the most pricey. MAC Faux, which isn't one I hear about all that often if I am honest, but I'm not one of the bloggers who gets a product because everyone else has it. This is high end, an investment, so I make it suited to me, not everyone else. For me, this is the your lips but better shade, and I just blimming love it.
Back to the high street, we have the Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick in 101 which is a pale pinky pink, but this is slightly too baby pink for me, because those types of colours don't suit me, but I know what lots people love this (as do I with the rest of the Kate Lipsticks), and so I included it anyway.
Finally, a lip liner. This is the Too Faced Perfect Nude Perfect Lip Liner which is an incredible lip liner. It is 100% matte, and does not budge, and I love this paired with any of the above lip colours, and it literally lasts hours. It needs a sharpen, and I can imagine that in the future there will be a stump left of this...
Lip products are my weakness, and so are neutrals. Put them together, and I go a little cray cray.
2013 is the year that Rimmel's products are bringing it across the board when it comes to drugstore/highstreet makeup finds. Their releases have been causing everyone to get a little excited, and although this wasn't released this year, the hype has been at its peak.
The Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation claims to offer an 'Anti Fatigue Effect and Radiant Glow' and it also offers SPF15. There are small amounts of shimmer in it, but I have never before seen it on my face, but I have done in the bottle, but it isn't anything that has bothered me yet. Although, because this is such a radiant foundation, with my combination skin, things can get a little shiny throughout the day, so this is a weekend base for me, as I can easily reach for the powder or blotting sheets whenever I need them, which is probably twice a day (or less), just to tide things over on the shine-front.
The coverage is a good medium I would say, and one pump goes all the way over my face. The consistency is quite thick, which I actually quite like, as it feels very creamy when you buff it into the skin, but not heavy whatsoever. Another thing would be that the colour range isn't the best, with the palest offering of Ivory 100 being too dark for my skin, and so sometimes when I want to not have any product on the cheeks as they have no blemishes and look fine, I can't do that as I look like I have a mis-matched centre of my face...
Other than that, if you can deal with a bit of blending to even out the colour, and if you can deal with a little touch up of the powder here and there, than absolutely go and buy this yourself, and if you are the bargain hunter I am, go into ASDA, as the often sell it for £4.98 in there - bargainous.
Like them or loathe them, I have bought some new shoes. Patent esc. brogues to be precise. From Primark. I have been outfit planning for the Clothes Show Live 2013 (it is still a month until I go..), and I decided I needed a comfortable, chunky soled, closed up, shoe which would match with whatever I decided to pair them with - dresses, jeans, the lot.
I found these chunky looking ones in Primark, no shame - although there may be a little of it, as my entire outfit will probably be from Primark, at a rather big fashion event - wild. But, if I saw someone wearing these, I would most certainly think they were darn expensive, and not from anywhere near Primark - result. The best part? These bad boys were £12. WHAT?!
They don't make my feet look like canal boats, and they look smashing with jeans or dresses, and there was no staggering price. Although I will be sporting Primark based attire for the day, I will feel pretty good about it. I also bought the big, black oversized furry/fluffy/hairy cardigan they have out at the moment, and that will be getting an outing on the day too.
Love them or hate them, these could be up there to be my new favourite pair of shoes, and I haven't even worn them out yet.
I love a good freebie, and my luck has been pretty high when discovering some good free products in magazines recently, although I am still kicking myself because I didn't pick up the ELLE Issue with the Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray in it, nor the one with Benefit's Their Real Mascara - idiot Lauren... Maybe it will happen again one day.
In the (very early) December Issue of ELLE, you get a choice of 3 Benefit Ultra Plush Lipgloss, either Hoola (which I got), Coralista (which I want), and Dandelion I believe. My mum got me this magazine after knowing how much time I spend at the benefit counters, but never actually pick anything up.
Hoola itself is a really lovely natural nude/brown, slightly shimmery shade. The formula is great for a lipgloss, is has a very slippy texture, and not sticky at all, meaning you can wear this in the wind and you wont have any hair-in-lipgloss situations.
The magazine costs £4, and with the 6.5ml lipgloss, I think it is something worth buying. I am definitely spending more time browsing the magazines in WHSmith nowadays, hoping to find some hidden gems. After all, magazines are a really good way to add more high end makeup items to your collection without spending too much, which is great for me being on a drugstore budget. ELLE, put some more Bumble and Bumble in there again...just for me? I promise I won't forget to buy it!
During these past few weeks, some strange reaction is going on in my body making me love oil cleansers, and I have been craving all of the expensive balms. This is the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil, and I have been currently loving it, and so... what better to do, than sing it's praises in a blog post? I never used to like this, but now, we are the greatest of friends... DHC Do you accept my apology?
This is the smallest size, of 30ml, costing £4.50, which is kind of pricey, with the full 200ml retailing for £21.50, so this isn't exactly high street pricing, nor high end, somewhere in between. I must say though, a few drops goes a long way.
You can use this to remove makeup, by applying it onto your dry, makeup full, face, and massaging it in, and then wiping it away with a warm washcloth. Sometimes it feels a bit odd the first few times, and you are left with a film over your eyes blurring vision, so instead, I much prefer to use this after removing makeup (still on a dry face), and really massage it into the skin as a normal cleanser. It feels extremely luxurious when rubbing it in, and although I have combination skin, it doesn't feel too heavy, nor does it leave any residue. With all oil/balm cleansers, your skin isn't going to feel squeaky clean, which I don't like anyway, but instead, it feels plumped and nourished.
At the moment, this has become one of my favourite night time cleansers, and maybe it will make its way onto the skincare shelf very shortly, as shown in my last post.
