current favourite lip products

Now beauty-wise I'm guessing that we all have certain items that we get more excited about than others. For me it's usually blushers and eyeshadows but at the moment I can't stop dreaming about different lip products! I think this might be because during revision period I tend just to wear a little mascara and a lipstick to get ready quickly, so I've been playing around more with lip products. Anyway, I thought I'd show you what I've been enjoying using at the moment!

MUA Sugar Lips Lip Balm, Revlon Black Cherry, Clinique Watermelon, Collection 2000 Break Dance Lip Gloss, 17 Belle, YSL Rose Stiletto, Topshop Ooh La La

MUA Love Hearts Lip Balm in Sugar Lips

This is so moisturising but has a gorgeous shine at the same time. I love to put a little on when I'm wearing no make up at all just to moisturise my lips or over lipsticks if I want a bit of a glossy look without it feeling sticky. Mm, it smells great too!

MUA Love Hearts Lip Balms are £2 from Superdrug or online here.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry

I know I should probably be thinking about more spring appropriate colours now but I can't say the weather is really convincing me... What I love about this lipstick is how versatile it is. The colour is so beautiful and can be built up from a very subtle stain to a really dramatic vampy lip. It doesn't dry your lips at all but due to this if you're going full on then I would recommend using a lip liner.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks are £7.49 from Boots and online here.

Clinique Long Last Lipstick in Watermelon

Now this is probably a better colour for this time of year! It's such a fun bright shade that I've especially enjoyed recently while I've had a bit of a tan. As I've said before, when I'm at work staying power is really important to me when it comes to lip products and as the name claims this lipstick really does last well and needs minimum touch ups throughout the day - fab!

Clinique Long Last Lipsticks are £16 from Clinique counters and online here. 

Collection 2000 Lock N Hold Lip Gloss in Break Dance

I won't go on about this too much as I've done a full review of this gloss which you can read here. What I really love about this product, as with the Clinique lipstick, is that it lasts really well on the lips without feeling sticky and the colour is such a gorgeous coral which again looks brilliant with a bit of a tan.

Collection 2000 Lock N Hold Lip Glosses are £2.99 from Boots and online here.

17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Belle

I love the Mirror Shine range of lipsticks! They are such a great affordable product which leave your lips super moisturised with a reasonable colour pay off - to be honest they're everything I wanted the Revlon Lip Butters to be! I actually did a post where I sort of compare the two which you can read here. I have quite a few colours now but I can't get enough of Belle especially at the moment. It's my perfect 'my lips but better' shade.

17 Mirror Shine Lipsticks are £4.59 from Boots and online here.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick in 9, Rose Stiletto

(Now let's all admit that the packaging is half the beauty of this product...) I wanted a great everyday lipstick that I would get a lot of wear out of, so I thought I'd splash out and get something nice as I knew it would be worth it as I'd use it quite a bit. When I saw Rose Stiletto in Selfridges I knew I'd found the right one - not too much of a nude and not too dark to not be perfect for everyday. Yes, it was pricey but the quality is incredible. It lasts on the lips so well without drying them out and when it does fade, it fades evenly without looking horrible and patchy. I can't wait until next payday to pick up another!

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipsticks are £23.50 from YSL counters and online here.

Topshop Lipstick in Ooh La La

Again here's another lipstick that I've been loving while I've had a bit of a tan! Ooh La La (I love the name) is such a lovely bright coral, which looks great with a little pink blusher and a tiny bit of mascara. It's such a great colour for the spring and summer and is also brilliant quality - I love Topshop lipsticks! The only thing is that I'm not sure if it's available any more but if not they do have some other great colours. It's not online but I've seen it recently instore so do have a look!

Topshop Lipsticks are £8 from Topshop and online here.

What lip products are you loving at the moment? Tempt me!

Can I also just say a huge thank you once again to all of you lovely people who read my little blog as I now have 200 followers! I love writing it so it feels even better to know that people actually read my silly ramblings! ♥

xx

recent happenings #3

final essay of the year in! / cheeky Yo! Sushi by myself... / a very wet Selfridges / a naughty but beautiful treat from Selfridges - my first YSL lipstick! / soggy Canary Wharf / coffee and cake / a grey Olympic stadium / love my new top! (another Zara purchase...) / can't wait to start reading this! / a tasty dinner for my boyfriend's 21st birthday / my little purchase came from Dolly Bow Bow but the ring was too small so I need to exchange it :( / lovely candles to help me revise / I love this polish, it's so simple - LA Girl in Darling (ignore my very messy nails, I painted them on the Tube!)

As you can see I've actually ventured out a little more this week which has been brilliant! I've still got lots of revision to do so trying to divide my time between that and enjoying myself a bit as much as I can. Also, note the grey and wet theme of these photos - I'm getting sick of living in a very rainy London! 

xx

a true lip butter?

The other day I gave in and finally purchased one of the new Revlon Lip Butters that we've been hearing so much about. I must admit that when they finally hit the shops I was actually a bit disappointed in the range of colours and found them a bit, well... boring. (Just me?) There wasn't a shade that instantly jumped out at me. Anyway, as I said I picked one up on a whim and went eventually for Macaroon, a subtle brown toned reddish shade.

As quite a few people have said now, the formula was not what I was expecting at all. When I heard about the Lip Butters I was expecting a very sheer and soft texture which was moisturising on the lip. In fact, they're really very pigmented and not sheer in the slightest. Also, as for the feel of them on the lip - dare I say it - I've actually found them to be quite drying. I have other lipsticks which don't claim to have moisturising properties which are less drying than this! Despite these criticisms, I do love the colour of Macaroon for everyday wear but I have taken to applying a lip balm first as I tend to do with all my other lipsticks. The colour lasts on my lips for three ish hours before I feel that it needs to be reapplied, which is about standard for me. I also like the sleek packaging which feels sturdy and well made. I love being able to see the colour through the top of the lid too!

In a totally unrelated incident (I get pulled in by the Boots 3 for 2 offer far too regularly...) I picked up a Mirror Shine lipstick by 17 in the colour Purple Haze. This is a gorgeous purpley berry shade, as the name suggests, and looks like you've been gobbling blackberries - just the kind of colour I love! Anyway, when I wore this for the first time yesterday, I realised that this was actually far more how I had expected the Lip Butters to be. The colour is incredibly sheer and I find the Mirror Shine lipsticks to actually be a lot more moisturising than the Revlon Lip Butters - I don't feel the need to apply lip balm before at all. The colour definitely doesn't last as long but that can often be the case with more glossy and moisturising lip products, and having to reapply regularly doesn't bother me particularly. I'm also not really a fan of the packaging; the blue metallic bullet doesn't really do much for me and looks a bit cheap.

Left: 17 Mirror Shine, Right: Revlon Lip Butter

Top: Revlon Lip Butter in Macaroon (slightly smudged... oops!), Bottom: 17 Mirror Shine in Purple Haze

I have other 17 lipsticks but this was my first from the Mirror Shine range, and I will definitely be picking up more as I love the formula. As for the Revlon Lip Butters? I don't think I'll necessarily get another one, not because of the texture but because of the colour range. One product that I hear has a similar feel to it are the L'Oreal Caresse lipsticks, which are meant to be very sheer. Also, the range of colours looks far more exciting than the Lip Butters so watch this space!

I picked both the Revlon Lip Butter and the 17 Moisture Shine Lipstick up from Boots. The Lip Butter was £7.99 and the Mirror Shine Lipstick was £4.59.

Have you tried either of these products? What did you think? If you've tried one of the L'Oreal Caresse lipsticks, did you like it?

PS. Today is my birthday! I'd like to pretend it's by eighteenth again, but the truth is I'm now twenty. Still young, but too old for my liking! Another trip to Boots for the 3 for 2 may therefore be appropriate as a little treat...

xx

my favourite things: lip gloss and lipstick

Hello again!

This is the second part of my favourite things posts, and this one is about my favourite lip gloss and lipstick :)

Lip gloss:


Now, for me choosing my favourite lip gloss was so easy as I'm absolutely in love with everything about this product! Not only does it smell amazing*, but the subtle colour is lovely for the day time and at only £4.49 this lip gloss is absolutely brilliant.

It's the Barry M Lip Gloss wand in shade 11. The colour is a beautiful pinky coral colour which has just the right amount of shine and it's also a great consistency - not one of those horrible tacky glosses that are a pain to wear because you get everything stuck to your lips grrr!

I think I'm now on about my third tube of this and I've also got my mum and sister in to it as well! If you're after a great subtle gloss for the day and you're on a budget then you definitely can't go wrong with Barry M!

*This may smell lovely and fruity but I wouldn't recommend having a little lick, you'll only be disappointed... I'm speaking from experience :( !

Lipstick:


When I was trying to decide for this post what my favourite lipstick of all time was, I found it quite difficult. There wasn't one that jumped out at me as one that I have loved forever so I've decided just to tell you what lipstick I've especially enjoyed wearing recently.

This is probably a bit of an unexpected choice: it's the Jack Wills Gloss Lipstick in Rosewood.

I picked this up about a month ago as a bit of an impulse buy and didn't really expect much from it as Jack Wills have a very small selection of make up and specialise more in clothes. However, I was pleasantly surprised as this lipstick has a really creamy texture and the gorgeous colour lasts absolutely ages on the lips without drying them out. I chose Rosewood as it's a great darker nude shade for the day but with deep reddy brown tones too. Unfortunately, I know that this colour hasn't been continued in to their new Easter collection but they have some beautiful other colours, such as Hot Pink. The lipsticks are £9.50, making them a little more expensive than most other high street make up brands but at only £1.50 more than Topshop lipsticks, I don't think the price is really that horrendous.

Although the lipsticks are great quality, I've tried the Jack Wills lip glosses and they are the worst consistency that I've ever experienced! The only comparison I can imagine is putting Pritt Stick on your lips... yuck.

Thanks so much for reading this :) I'll tell you some more of my favourites soon!

xx