MAC "So Chaud" lipstick review.

 As I said I would in a previous blog post. I purchased "So Chaud" the other week online from MAC. This lippy caught my eye after seeing it in numerous videos from Jen ( "clothesencounters" ) on Youtube. I told myself I didn't need it, but clearly didn't convince myself.
The first time I tried it on I shocked myself a little as it seemed very orange. But I've gradually got used to it and I think it could be my new favourite bold "dressy up" lippy. 
It's definitely a bright lipstick that seems a cross between postbox red and orange. Being pale it seems to go nicely with my skin tone, although when fully applied it takes a while to get used to. I wore it out for the first time yesterday and I must admit my Uncle did give me a double take and a confused look as if to say "What on Earth is on your face?", but never the less I'm pleased with it! 
The lipstick is £14 and is a matte finish which I absolutely LOVE. The colour is also surprisingly long lasting which is fab! And like MACS "Rebel" It also seems to stain my lips, I don't know if anyone else has this trouble or whether it's just me? Let me know, 
Beth x

Taken in natural daylight with no flash.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain"005 Crush"

 This is one of my new favourite lip products. I've really been loving the deep berry shades since they became popular near the start of 2012. But like (I suspect) quite a few people I find them difficult to pull off casually. Unless....they're in a completely wearable balm form!
Plus, I adore the packaging as the lip stain in basically a huge retractable crayon.
It's so moisturising on the lips and is convenient to throw on (without worrying about being neat) to add a pop of colour to your lips whilst feeling great.

I've been absolutely loving Revlon so far this year, and can't wait to see whatever else they bring out before 2012  is over!

Gosh lip marker "003 Berry" review.

No flash

 I bought this lip marker about a month ago and thought it was time for a review. I bought the colour "003 Berry". It's a lovely sort of raspberry colour. Like most lip stains; the colour is buildable. Gosh says the lip marker is "long lasting". For a lip product, I agree. It's especially good for not rubbing off or leaving lip stains on glasses of mugs when drinking. however it can't quite last after eating.

Flash

I also think this lip maker has a taste. It's almost like an artificial raspberry flavour, which I don't really mind. I picked this up at Superdug for £6.99. As always I love the Gosh packaging, It's modern and minimalistic; definitely my taste.


Although it isn't shown very well in these pictures the colour can be rather bold when applied fully. As I'm pretty pale skinned with pink cheeks (which I despise), when fully applied, this lip marker compliments my skin tone well. 

Beth x

Real techniques blush brush review.

When I first started buying decent make-up I told myself I would own all the MAC brushes because well....they were MAC so they must be the best. Wrroonnngg. I can't stress how happy I am that boots (however not my tiny local one) are selling great quality brushes at acceptable prices.
What makes it even better is that these densely packed,soft, stylish and girly brushes are in our Boots stores because of the gorgeous Samantha Chapman. 
I watch every single video Pixiwoo make, and it amazes me how creative both Sam and Nic are (Often sitting in front of camera without a plan at all!) I knew I had to try these brushes!
I wasn't surprised at all that the two brushes I own by Sam were basically perfect for me, as the two girls obviously know everything there is to know about make up ad therefore know what the customers want out of their brushes. I will definitely be purchasing more of these brushes and I highly recommend them.
Beth.

MAC "Rebel" lipstick review

Definitely not the neatest application.

My most recent MAC purchase is this gorgeous berry coloured satin lipstick called "REBEL".

Excuse the shockingly chipped nail varnish!

I've been eyeing this lippy for quite a while and was even going to buy it online instead of taking a trip into town, only to find it was out of stock (must be a popular one!). But when I was shopping and passed the MAC 
counter I thought I would try my luck.
Good job I did as well!
It's a beautiful bold colour and the quality is just as fab as you would expect from a MAC lipstick. I've worn this lipstick about 3 times now and something odd about it is that it stains your lips. Like, really stains; you can remove it, rub at it, irritate your lips but when you wake up in the morning they'll still have a slight stain. Which Is odd as i've never had a lipstick that does this. However I suppose it's the price you pay for the wonderful pigmentation.

The lipstick is priced at £14 (standard MAC pricing). I'm pleased with it as I definitely don't have a colour like it. My next purchase will be "So chaud" as that too was out of stock when I tried to buy it! ...boohoo :( 


Till next time,
Beth 

Real Techniques competition.

One of my favourite make-up looks (definitely not an everyday look) for the Real Techniques competition. Who's brushes I absolutley ADORE.

Revlon Lip Butter review!

So a couple of weeks ago I decided to jump on the "Revlon lip butter" train. I decided all the hype must be for a reason, so I had a little splurge for 16 year old, living on pocket money me.
I've never really purchased Revlon products before apart from the odd nail varnish, but I am so very pleased with these products! All very smooth glossy lipsticks retailing at £7.99 each.  
All pictures below are applied with only ONE coat. The pigmentation of these lipsticks can build up much vibrant than this.

2

"Cotton Candy" Is probably the most wearable of the 3 lip butters i bought as it is a natural pink tone. However it also has a lot of shimmer with gold reflects. It gives a very pretty look without looking overdone. It is also easy enough to slap on without having to apply it precisely in a mirror. Definitely a good buy in my opinion for pretty pale gals like me!

 "Lollipop" Is a more bright pink/fuchsia colour. Very lively and definitely summery! It doesn't have any shimmer in like "cotton candy". Because the colour is slightly more out there I think it is wise to keep the colour the strong point and not add shimmer. It seems to have the best staying power out of the 3 I bought and I'm sure would be a night time lipstick when applied fully.

"Cotton Candy" Is definitely my favourite out of my 3 lip butters, I adore red lipstick but don't wear it on a day to day basis as It can definitely be hard to pull of.  However when this is applied lightly it looks gorgeous as it is a very light and subtle hydrating lipstick. Great for pale skin! 


I definitely feel these lip products are worth the money and i would recommend them. Even if you just try one shade. They are very wearable and I also think fabulous for the summer months ahead! ( Even in England! )
Till next time, Beth

Jeffery Campbell Lita Spiked heels

Can't stress how much I want a pair of these... (Even if there's no way I could walk in them)

Are they not just some of the most gorgeous shoes you've ever laid eyes upon.

Gosh "Gloss eclat & brilliance" lipgloss (02)

So, I picked this little beauty up a couple of weeks ago in a Superdrug sale. Now, anyone who buys Gosh will know that they tend to be quite pricey for a "drug store" brand. although they do have a good range of products including things like primers and brushes.

These "Gosh gloss eclat & brilliance" originally retailed for about £7-8 I believe, so when I saw this for £3 in such a mad colour (number 02) I had to get it.

The packaging is attractive, with a minimalistic feel to the square container. The lip gloss also has a mirror on the side which is a nice touch. But inside, it gets even better! There are two small LED lights above the wand. Pretty helpless for application, but it still looks cute!
The brush is also nice and it is an actual brush rather than a "felt/sponge wand" If you understand what I mean?

The product itself is rather sticky which I am not too much of a fan of (and is the reason I tend to stay away from lip gloss). However the sheer amount of holographic shimmer makes this lip gloss an exception in my books. The lip gloss is (as you can see) a slightly berry-like pink with different coloured very fine glitter and an overall underlying blue tone.

A rather unattractive picture, attempting to show the amount of glitter in this bad boy!

There's something about Gosh products that is undoubtedly attractive, probably because they appear so modern and simple but colourful.


Hope you enjoyed this quick review,
Beth x

MAC "soft ochre" paint pot review

 Recently I purchased the MAC "Soft Ochre" paint pot.It's my first paint pot and the main reason for purchasing this was because of NikkieTutorials.

If any of you watch her Youtube videos you'll be well aware that almost all her looks begin with "so I'm going to take MACs paint pot in soft ochre". I love her videos to the stars and back so I thought I would purchase something that she loves and something that I should be able to use a lot.

 It's a very plain, wearable colour so I think it was a good paint pot to start out with. It's great at supplying a plain canvas for almost any eye make up. As with almost all MAC products I feel like the quality is worth the price. 

The product is a creamy consistency and applies pretty smoothly but once it has dried on the eyelid, it's there to stay. Which is what you want from a product like this. however it does mean you have to work quickly.

 I do worry about how long this product will last without drying out. But as it's MAC and paint pots are so highly regarded by most MAC users, I have faith. Taking precautions like screwing the lid on tightly and storing them upside down should help them to live on longer!

I love the packaging of paint pots. the typical  glass pots with the large black lids (like a larger version of MAC gel liners) and overall i'm sure this product will be a staple piece in my make up kit for years to come.

I will definitely be purchasing some more paint pots. I have my eye on "bare study" next.

The paint pots are priced at £14.50 for a 5g pot.

Till next time, 

Beth.

My Jewellery "organisation"

 Just thought I'd give you a peak at my jewellery organisation, although it's nothing special.
I basically hang my hair bands/accessories and necklaces on this sliding jewellery organiser from IKEA. It slides in and out of my wardrobe on a hinge (very handy as my room is absolutely tiny! The extra room is appreciated) 




I don't have a huge jewellery collection and what I do have often isn't put to good use. I tend to be way to lazy to pick out jewellery on a day to day basis. Unless it's a special occasion like a meal out/party or gig, I'm often extremely minimally accessorised. 

I love quirky pieces like this beetle necklace!

However this doesn't mean I can resist the gorgeous items I pass in the shops, oh no. 


2 of my most recent purchases are the black and silver chunky necklace made up on geometric shapes from H&M for about £6-7 I think. My other recent purchase that i believe was an Absolute steal was the silver spiked necklace in front of it. It was in the Dorothy Perkins sale for £3! and it makes a fab statement piece for a dress-up occasion. However it does slightly remind me of a cave woman's bone necklace. Anyone else?

Yeah...totally organised.

 This is the other part of my Jewellery storage. As you can tell, I'm not the neatest organiser...whoops.
I basically keep all my rings and bracelets in one of my bedside table draws. I lined it with a bandanna to make it look a bit more lively. 
Every year I buy stacks of summertime brightly coloured beaded bracelets but they never get worn enough. So this year my objective is to wear them throughout summer! 

Benefit mascara "they're Real!" Review.

"They're Real!"

 So I've always been a "Maybelline Volume Express Colossal Mascara" girl. I think I prefer big mascara brushes, as I'm too lazy to be precise!
 However after my 3rd tube of the same mascara ran out i decided it was time for a change. 
Now if you read any beauty blogs or watch any vlogs I'm sure you'll be aware of the ongoing hype over this mascara. I wanted to see whether it really was this miracle mascara!

2 light coats of "They're Real!"

The brush is medium sized, and slightly flexible. However something slightly special about this mascara brush is that it has bristles going around the end of the brush. They do help to de-clump lashes when using the brush horizontally.
I'm not gunna lie, I wasn't struck by the wonder of this god send. It is a decent mascara and it does have snazzy packaging (easy to find in your make up bag) It is also my very first purchase from benefit. It does provide you with longer and blacker lashes, however I don't feel it makes lashes appear very full or voluminous. For £18.50 I personally feel it is overpriced and very over rated.
Till next time, Beth x

MAC Cream Colour Base "Luna" Review.

 I recently purchased "Luna" by MAC. I tend to use this product on the very top of my cheekbones, brow bone, inner corner of the eye and sometimes my cupids bow as a highlighter. 
The texture isn't very thick, and i would say is rather greasy. However it isn't so greasy once on the face. I feel that once it sinks in it stays put and provides an attractive natural highlight.


I chose the lightest colour (very white, very fine shimmer). This was just due to the fact that i have rather pale skin (I was tempted to purchase "pearl" which is more of a cream colour with gold shimmers, but thought that the white would suit my skin tone more.) Due to it being very light it does reflect the light nicely and I find because there are no large glitter chunks , only extremely fine shimmer it does not look overpowering.

I apologise for the pretty useless swatch.

I have not used this fully as an eye shadow base yet as I feel it may make my eyelids greasy due to the texture of the product. However a base of "UD primer potion" underneath may do the trick.                                                                                                                                                                         I'm rather useless at contouring my face ( as I'm pretty pale I always feel bronzer makes me look like someone off Geordie shore...) so highlighters are kind of my way out of contouring at the moment, until summer comes around and I have a slight tan again!

"Luna"used lightly on brow bone and very top of cheekbone.

I feel this product does make an excellent highlighter and as it contains 3.2g, and a little goes a long way I think it will last me a substantial amount of time. I prefer to apply this product with my finger, rather than a brush .I think it blends into the skin easier this way, as creams quite often do. This product is £14.50. 

Beth x

China Glaze "Fifth Avenue"

 Now, I'm not the best at painting nails. I'm definitely not a perfectionist although I wish I was. But i do love a good nail varnish! 
I purchased China Glaze "Fifth Avenue" quite a long time ago but haven't used it as much as I should of. After rediscovering it hidden amongst dozens of other nail varnishes, I adore it once again. 
I really feel like it's such a wearable colour. Yet quite girly, but as it's more of a dusty rose pink rather than fluorescent or hot pink, it also appears sophisticated.
As China Glaze polishes always are (in my opinion) the quality is tip-top, and a mere 1 coat is all that's needed.
I'm not sure if this particular colour is still retailed, but if it is I suggest you grab it quick! 
It's definitely my favourite at the moment,
Beth x

Smooch Cosmetics UK haul/review

I recently purchased from a online make-up company called www.smoochcosmeticsuk.com after seeing a 20% discount code in a magazine. I watched/read a few reviews on the cosmetics before purchasing and liked what i saw! Now that I've received my products i thought it would be fun to do my own review.

The products came individually wrapped in purple tissue paper, with"Smooch" stickers holding it together and beautiful black lace decorating it. Although it is undoubtedly a waste of resources, it did make the products seem that extra bit special and would have been fabulous as a gift .

Once I had carefully removed the outer packaging, the individual tissue paper wrapping, the equally attractive packaging was viewable.

Now I know you shouldn't decide to purchase a product because of the packaging, but I must admit, it did help to persuade me!

As you can see, I purchased 2 lipsticks, a liquid eye liner, compact eye shadow duo and a lip liner.

And once I took them out of that packaging, this is what I was left with. The actual design of the cosmetics is pretty and rather simple. On the whole I do really like it. All products bar the lip liner have a slight rubber feel to them which I'm not quite sure about yet, as it does mean that any other make-up (ie, powder of eye shadows) and fingerprints are quickly visible, and hard to get off. 

This lipstick "Pink Fizz" originally £7.50 is a very natural shimmery pink. It's definitely not far off my natural lip colour and is quite sheer. It's very soft and almost melts onto your lips.
Pigmentation isn't crazy as it is pretty sheer. But it is of decent quality.
I feel it is not a long-lasting lip colour as it is extremely soft and you are aware of it on your lips ( feels hydrating ).

This lipstick is my favourite of the two, called "Prom Punch" and also £7.50. It's a stunning raspberry/ slight plummy colour, also very soft texture but the pigmentation is fabulous. To me, it seems very similar to a mac lipstick. Which for me is a good thing!

As the lipstick is very soft it does seem it could "bleed" quite easily so lip liner in a similar colour would probably do this lipstick justice.

It's been quite a while since i have owned a liquid liner ( I use "blacktrack" gel liner by Mac or "smoulder" a pencil liner also by Mac) but I was very pleasantly surprised by this liner. I'm not very precise when it come to eye liner, and i have a very shakey hand most the time. But the brush on this liner is more "plasticy" that individual hairs. However the "plastic" is flexibly enough to make application easy but still have a lot of precision. The pigmentation is decent, but nothing amazing, for £6.95 I would say it is a worthwhile purchase.

This eye shadow duo in "filthy rich", priced £9.50, comes in the same Slightly rubber textured packaging. I picked these colours which I feel would complement my blue eyes, and these are also the sort of eye shadow tones I am used to working with.

the handy little compact would be good for on-the-go as it also contains a mirror, and these 2 eye shadows can be used on a day to day basis (including using the light shimmer as a highlighter).

I feel like the pigmentation of the lighter colour is better, as it picks up a lot easier. However, it is a rather "thick" eye shadow. the texture clumpy/lumpy, although once blended in, isn't as noticeable. The colour is a very light gold with a lot of shimmer. Whereas the darker colour seems to be slightly harder to pick up, but as a result is less clumpy. the colour is definitely copper, with a lot of underlying orange tones. Also with a lot of shimmer. 

Both eyeshadows reflect light nicely and i feel nicely usable eye shadows.

"Nearly Naked" lined and filled in the lips.

 Last but not least "Nearly Naked"  lip liner. This was £4.95. I sort of regret the colour I chose as it is rather boring. But hey ho, it is supposed to be a nude, so I got what I asked for. 

One thing that really made me want to purchase a lip liner from Smooch Cosmetics was the the fact that on one end , you have your pencil liner, and on the other you have a lip brush! 

I have yet to test out the lip brush as i've never really had a decent lip brush before i'm not the best tester of this part of the product. I tend to just attempt to apply my lipstick as neat as possible free hand. But, it's great of them to include a lip brush, especially for £4.95!

The lip liner is undoubtedly a nude colour, possibly slightly dull for complementing my complexion. But it does seem like it will last, and gives good pigmentation. The product applies easily and smoothly. As it is soft I feel if it was used frequently it would need a sharpener near! I wouldn't recommend wearing it on it's own myself, I feel it would look good as a base for a nude lipstick with pink tones and some gloss. I'll definitely be trying this out :)

"Eyeshadow Duo","Prom Punch","Nearly Naked","Pink Fizz","Liquid liner"

No Flash 

"Eyeshadow Duo","Prom Punch","Nearly Naked","Pink Fizz","Liquid liner"  

Flash (Truer to real colours)

Over all I am very happy with my purchase and am always happy to try out new/different brands, especially when for once they're from the UK! ( and they have 20% off)
If you got this far, then well done! It was a long review. Thank you for taking time to read, till next time;
Beth x