Blogmas - Day Eight: Red Lips for the Party Season

Hi guys.

Today's post is a bit of a different one.  I am going to show you three red lipsticks you can wear for this time of year.  Before I get into the post, I would like to say that I am not one to wear red lips though I am trying out different brands and formulas to see which suit me best.  I am only showing three as these are the three I have in my collection.  I will try my hardest to give my opinion as I have only worn two of them so far.

From L to R: Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Standout, Model Co Ultra Long-Lasting Lipstick in Smitten & Rimmel Apocalips in Big bang.

From Top to Bottom: Smitten, Standout & Big Bang

Model Co's Ultra Long-Lasting Lipstick in Smitten.

I have not long had this lipstick...in fact I only received this in my December Birchbox (linked here) yesterday so I haven't had the chance to wear it yet to see if it is long-lasting.  I swatched the colour on my hand and I am excited to see how it looks against my skin tone.  Smitten is a red with a slight berry colour to it.  I feel that it has a slight blue undertone too which I have been told will compliment my skin tone.  The scent of this lipstick is heavenly as it smells like vanilla!

Revlon's Colourburst Matte Balm in Standout.

This by far has to be the red lip I am loving as it is matte and I am into matte lips as well as ling lasting products.  I wore this on a night out once and it stayed on the whole night and didn't stain my lips.  Standout is a red and again, like Smitten, has a slight berry colour to it.  I can also see a hint of blue again in this lip product though it isn't as noticeable from a far.  The scent of the product is mint and I haven't noticed the scent lingering for long although it isn't an offensive mint scent.

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Big Bang

This is a liquid lipstick which is a true red colour.  It has a glossy look to it which depending on my mood, I can make work for me.  I have only used this once and didn't feel that it suited me at all.  I will try and work more with it once my confidence with red and bright colours' is here.  I am eager to try more from this range.  The scent of this is quite chemically but it isn't offensive and doesn't linger.

So there are my three red lip products for this years party season.  Like I said before, I am not confident with wearing red or bright lipsticks yet but I would like to try more colours' to see what is out there that will suit me.

What red or bright lips are you loving this season?  Any recommendations for me to try?

Bye for now.

Jess. X

Blogmas day 24 : What's in my make-up bag (Winter Edition)

As if it is Christmas eve already.  My blog is already 24 days old and I have written a lot.  I know I promised a post everyday but as life is strange, I had to postpone some blog posts but I did get 24 posts up.  As promised, Today's will be a What's in my make-up bag blogpost.

I am away from uni but as my collection is very small, I have brought the majority of my make-up collection.  I will start from base and finish with the lips.

This post will be picture heavy.

Primer


My primer is quite a new product and I haven't had chance to try it out.  I have got Dr Jart's Recover Primer.  I received this in November's Birchbox and I am looking forward to trying this out.

Foundation

In September, I went make-up shopping and purchased a new foundation.  My foundation is M.A.C's Studio Sculpt.  I am NC25 and as much as I like this foundation, there are a few out there that I want to try and 2015 will be the year to do that.  This foundation is quite matte on my skin and sometimes clings to my dry patches (I have combination
skin and am trying to find a skincare routine to combat this)

Concealer

I don't use much concealer as I am quite lucky to not suffer with dark circles.  My concealer at the moment is Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer and I use fair.  I always purchase this and again I want to try other in 2015.

Eyeshadow

I currently only have one palette and am loving it.  I have Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette and it has a nice range of shade which are very complimentary to my skin tone.  My favourite eyeshadow is Tease and Bootycall.  I love those two shades together and that is my usual everyday eye look.

Eyeliner

I have two eyeliners that I use...one felt tip liner and one pencil.  I use Rimmel's Scandeleyes pencil liner on my waterline and I use Collection's Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner on my top lip to create a wing.

Mascara


I chop and change my mascara so often that the next time I do something  like this, it might have changed.  At the moment I am using Rimmel's Scandeleyes Flex in black.  I also have Maybelline's The Rocket and sometimes I use both at the same time.

Cheeks

I usually don't put anything on my cheeks as I feel that I always get it wrong but in 2015 I am
going try and use more cheek products.  The products I have at the moment are MUA's cream blush and as you can see in the picture, it is well used as the packaging is wearing off.  My other cheek product is a Lord and Berry bronzer in Sienna.  I haven't used the bronzer yet so I don't know
how it will look on my skin.

Lips

I have a few lip products in my make-up bag at the moment.  I have three lip products and 2 lip balms.  My three lip products are Rimmel's Apocolips in Big Bang, Revlon's Colourburst Matte Balm in Standout and Illamasqua Glamore Nude lipstick in Rosepout.  Rosepout has to be my favourite as it

 

suits my skintone so much.  My next favourite has to be the Matte Balm.  I have two lip balms one is Maybelline's Baby Lips in Peach Kiss and the other is a Pixi lip balm that I received in November's Birchbox.

Tools & Accessories

I have a pair of eyelash curlers, a Real Techniques Stippling brush, an eco tools angled liner brush, a Burts Bee's Cuticle Cream, a Beauty Protector Protect & Treat Hair Mask, six capsules of drinkwel (another product from November's Birchbox) and a small compact mirror.

My make-up bag is an old, grungy thing and I am kind of embarrassed to show it.  I am going to extend my collection further in 2015 so keep a look out for hauls and reviews throughout the year.

What is currently in your make-up bag and what are you looking forward to in 2015?

Bye for now.

Jess. X

Blogmas day 23 : Make-up and hair haul

I went and did a bit of shopping today and got a few things to make my Christmas a bit more beautiful.

I first went to Boots (which is a drugstore on the high street in the UK) and got a few things. 

I wanted a curling wand as I wanted to curl my hair on Christmas Day but knowing my hair doesn't keep the curls, I wanted to get something that would give them a bit of structure whilst also looking and feeling soft. I bought Umberto Giannini's Natural Curls Styling Cream. I thought this would be good to give the curls structure. I will give you a blogpost once I have tested it a few times. 

The next item I bought was Charles worthington's Volume & Bounce Texturising Spray. I bought this so that when I don't straighten or curl my hair, my hair can have some texture and my layers can look better. 

I had left my hair spray back at uni and because I am curling my hair, I wanted something to hold the curl once curled. I bought John Frieda's Frizz Ease Moisture Barrier Hairspray. 

I wanted to try a red lip this season and because I didn't know which red lipstick would suit me, I went to my local No7 counter and asked them what the right shade of red would be for me and they told me that I would suit red lipstick which had a blue undertone, which I was rather surprised to hear as I always thought I would suit and orange toned red. I bought Rimmels's Apocolips in Big Bang.

I bought another red lip product to try and so I can have a varity of shades of red. I bought a Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Standout. I have always wanted try this lip product and will have to get some more shades if I like it.  I hope it doesn't disappoint.

I then went to Argos and bought my curling wand. This is BaByliss's diamond Radience curling wand. It is not your usual curling wand as it has a few waves down the barrel. I have seen a video and the curls looked amazing so will will have to see. 

I will do a full blogpost of reviews of each of the products. 

What is your Christmas treat for yourself this year?  

Bye for now. 

Jess. X

Blogmas day 13 : A very tiny Boots haul.

As I am going home for the holidays, I needed to pick up two items to go in my make-up bag.  These are staples that will forever be found in my small but growing make-up collection.  In fact these will be found in any make-up collection of any beauty fanatic.

Eyeliner can come in different types and in different forms.  The two I prefer at the moment are felt tip liner and pencil liner.  I will always try different brands and there is one pencil liner that I have found that I will use for a while or until I find another one that fits my needs.  Recently, however, I have gotten into felt tip liner and am in the process of trying different brands.  These were the two staples that I needed to stock up on.

Rimmel Scandeleyes eyeliner has been my staple pencil liner for a few
years.  I like the fact it is so creamy and doesn't pull at my eyelids.  It is easily smudge-able if you need to but dries and doesn't smudge once dry.  As it is waterproof you do find that once removed, there can be some leftover but that soon goes after a night of sleep!  I use this mainly for my waterline but sometimes I use this on the top lid depending on what look I want to go for.  I have tried other pencil liners but sadly non have been up to scratch to this.


Collection's Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner is my newest item to my collection.  I have never tried this but I have read some good reviews and am looking forward to trying this.  I use felt tip liner on my top lid and feel that it gives a clean line and looks nice paired with eyeshadow.  I only do a small cat eye as I am only starting to get used to using felt tip liner.

What brands do you use?  Have you got any suggestions for eyeline?

Bye for now.

Jess. X