Recent Buys (Lush, Rimmel, Maybelline and more)

Some recent treats!

CD - Nevermind - Nirvana - I don't think I have to say much about this other than it's a brilliant album, if you haven't listened to it before then make sure you do and it's about time that I added this to my collection.

Lush Ickle Baby Bot bath bomb (left) - I've been wanting to try this bath bomb for so long as I always see it whenever I go into Lush and it also seems quite popular. According to reviews and other blog posts that I've read, it leaves your bath water soft on your skin, smelling of soothing lavendar without being overpowering and the colour that it turns your water looks incredible. It is intended for kids (mainly because it helps you to wind down before bed and drift off to sleep) but why should that stop you!
Lush Secret Garden bath bomb (right) - From the mothers day range, the main thing that drew me to the Secret Garden bath bomb (apart from how sweet it looks) was the smell - fragrant and floral without being too strong. And there's also flower petals inside, so what's not to love? I can't wait to try it!

Maybelline New York Matte Maker Mattifying Powder (10 Classic Ivory) - Seeing as I was running low on matte powder I thought I'd give this one a try! I usually only use matte powder on my t-zone and then a regular coverage powder on the rest of my face. I'm so impressed with the results - it tackles the annoying oily areas without it feeling cake-y or like it's clogging your pores and it's only ‎£3.99! The only negatives I have to point out are that it's only available in 4 shades which are all pretty light (which doesn't affect me but I know it will affect other people) and also it is very hard to open. I know that sounds stupid and I had to look it up online to make sure I wasn't completely incompetent but nope - other people have had the same problem! Something about the packaging just makes it very difficult to open the first time and it wasn't until I gave in and asked my Dad to try (thanks Dad!) that it actually opened.

Rimmel London Lasting Finish Concealer (010 Porcelain) - I saw this reviewed on another blog about a month ago and, like with my matte powder, I was running low and thought I'd see how this one fared. What really drew me to it is it seems like a dupe of the Benefit Boing concealer which everybody knows and loves (and I have used for what seems like forever), and I'm always keen to find cheaper alternatives! It does have a very similar texture and cover to Benefit Boing but only just misses the mark. I think if combined with a small amount of any other concealer you own then this would be perfect but, as much as I do like this concealer, I think if you want complete coverage from just one product then you'll have to spend a little bit more money.

What have you bought recently?

Product Appreciation

On my old blog I did a couple of these "Product Appreciation" posts which consisted of exactly what the title says! Whether it's make up, music, fashion, books, food, TV shows or just any random thing, if I feel like it should be appreciated then it will end up in a post on here.

Collection Deluxe Lipstick "01/Prohibition" (left) - I am probably one of the last people on the planet that needs new lipstick, especially purple/wine lipsticks (proof here) but here I am with 2 more that have recently made their way into the collection. Oh well. Besides the actual colour itself, one of my favourite things about this lipstick is that it doesn't cling to any drier parts of your lip (which is common at this time of year) as darker lipsticks annoyingly tend to do. It's really nice to apply as it's creamy and slightly glossy (but without being too shiny or dramatic) and feels very moisturizing. Plus it's very pigmented, meaning you could probably get away with one layer if needs be. All that for £2.99 (from Boots, £3.99 basically everywhere else) is ridiculously good.
Maybelline New York Colour Sensational "365/Plum Passion" (right) - I already have the Colour Sensational lipstick in 530 Fatal Red and it is genuinely one of my all-time favourite red lipsticks, so I had the bar set high for this one. It costs slightly more than the Collection Lipstick at £6.99 (again, Boots price - not too sure if it varies elsewhere), but is still definitely value for money. It's very creamy and goes on almost like a gloss and, like with Fatal Red, if built up enough, it could probably pass as a lip gloss. Like with the Collection lipstick, the Colour Sensational is very moisturising and soft but, unlike the Collection lipstick, unfortunately it does stick to drier parts of the lip and makes it look a bit patchy (which obviously wouldn't be an issue if I wasn't so lazy and just used a lip scrub beforehand). Another well-priced and highly pigmented lovely that you could probably get away with just one layer of.

Soap & Glory "The Righteous Butter" - I've used Soap & Glory body butters for so long now that it feels like I've never used any other brand. In my opinion, it's a tough brand to beat. But one of the winning points for me is that it always reminds me of holidays, warm summers and sunshine (*vomit*) as it's always my go to moisturizer for going abroad (along with sun cream of course). It always leaves your skin feeling ridiculously soft and silky and soaks in quite quickly too. It just ticks all of the boxes and of course has that amazing signature Soap & Glory smell.

Happy Jackson notebook - Topshop - How sweet is this notebook! In the past I've just used whatever random notebook I can get my hands on to keep myself organised and have never really given it too much thought. But I saw this "Bright Ideas - Cunning Plans" notebook on the Topshop website and couldn't get over how cute it is. There are other Happy Jackson notebooks available on the website and they're all equally as cute. So this will be filled with lots of lists, plans and other random bits and bobs (and great ideas and cunning plans, obviously)!

Penguin Little Black Classics - First of all, this was 80p. I don't even need to talk about how good that is. For anyone who doesn't know, there is a whole collection of Little Black Classics that have been released by Penguin and they all cost 80p, so now you have no excuse to not do some reading! I love reading, and have wanted this for a while because to me it just feels like something everyone should read at least once - it's history through the eyes of someone who was actually there! So this one's more of a heads-up to any fellow book lovers that want a real bargain. (P.S. - It's a great book, in case you were wondering!)

What products do you love?

Current favourite Lip Products

I'm a bit of a lipstick obsessive, as this post will prove! And I personally think you can never have enough (I have a problem). So I thought I'd share my current favourite lip products that I love to use. You may notice a running theme colour-wise!

Basics / Lip balms:

Vaseline Lip Therapy - Original & Cocoa Butter

EOS lip balm - Honeysuckle Honeydew

Maybelline New York "Baby Lips Lip Balm" - Cherry Me 

I thought I'd start with the classic that is Vaseline Lip Therapy, with my particular favourites from the collection - Original and Cocoa Butter. (Apologies for how battered the cocoa butter tin is, but it just proves how often it gets used!) These tiny tins are staples in most people's make up bags, or even just their pocket as they're great to have on you at all times. I don't know if you could consider these a make up product, but I certainly consider them an essential. Whether you wear them alone or over your lipstick, these lip balms are perfect for treating and moisturising sore, chapped lips or just adding a subtle extra something to your look.
The EOS Lip Balm is true to it's name (Evolution of Smooth) and my Honeysuckle Honeydew lip balm is now my second EOS purchase as I went through my first one in a flash! These lip balms are just gorgeous; they smell great and do what they promise - keep your lips soft and smooth. And obviously I have to mention the packaging, which is adorable.
And lastly, the Maybelline New York Baby Lips lip balm in the colour Cherry Me. I was sceptical when I first bought this as I was expecting a dark and unflattering pink, which I don't really want from a lip balm. But it actually gives off a shear, rosy pink which is nice and subtle and won't overpower the rest of your face of make up. However, if you were looking to have a darker pink, you would be able to build up the colour with a few added layers. And again, it does what it promises and leaves you with baby soft lips!

Lipsticks and glosses:

No.7 "Stay Perfect" - Love Red

No. 7 "Stay Perfect" - Claret

Maybelline New York "Colour Sensational" - '530' Fatal Red

Rimmel London "Lasting Finish" - '264' Coffee Shimmer

Barry M "Ultra Moisturising lip paint" - '160' Black Cherry

Topshop "Matte Lip Bullet" - Get Me Bodied

Seventeen Make Up "Lip Lustre" - Wild One 

(The lipsticks in the image and the swatches are all in the same order as the above list from left to right) As you can see, I love my reds, wines and purples! I use all of these lipsticks regularly individually but also like to mix and match with them all and create different shades. The No. 7 Stay Perfect lipsticks are the shades Love Red and Claret and both are creamy and smooth, incredibly moisturising and incredibly pigmented - I can't recommend these enough! I rarely use Claret on it's own as it's quite a deep brown, but it's great for adding to the other colours to create all sorts of shades.
The Maybelline New York Colour Sensational lip stick in the shade 530 - Fatal Red is also a smooth, moisturising and pigmented lipstick which when applied straight onto the lip (as opposed to with a lip brush) can actually look almost like a lip gloss. Another great red lipstick which I can't recommend enough.
The Rimmel London Lasting Finish lipstick in the shade 264 - Coffee Shimmer is another one I mainly use on top of other colours to give it a different type of finish. I prefer to apply this one with a lip brush so I have better control of how much of a golden brown sheen I add to my lips.
The Barry M Ultra Moisturising Lip Paint in the shade 160 - Black Cherry is a shade that I have used for years and is a firm favourite of mine. The deep cherry colour is great to wear on its own or to mix with reds to create a great wine colour and is one that I always turn to whether I'm just doing casual make up or aiming for a more formal look.
The Topshop Matte Lip Bullet in the shade Get Me Bodied is another one that I use for all occasions. Despite being a matte lipstick, it still applies smoothly and doesn't look dry or cracked on the lip as matte lipsticks sometimes can.
And the last one, the only lip gloss of the bunch, is Seventeen Make Up Lip Lustre in Wild One which was in my Christmas of a Thousand Swatches post which is a lovely deep red lip gloss which has some pinky undertones. Like I said in my other post, it's rare if not unheard of for me to like a lip gloss so this one surprised me. While I did like the whole collection of lip glosses that this came in, the red shade Wild One was my favourite by far. Again, it's great to use by itself or to add an extra something to a lipstick base

Lip crayons and liners:

Fearne "Kiss and Tell" lip crayons - Purple, Deep Red & Lighter Red

No. 7 "High Shine" lip crayons - Delicate Pink & Daydreamer

Barry M "Lip Liner Pencil" - Red / 3 

(For the crayon and liner swatches - the top three are the Fearne crayons, the middle two are the No.7 crayons and the bottom one is the Barry M liner) The Fearne 'Kiss and Tell' lip crayons, annoyingly don't actually have shade names or numbers, so I'll just refer to them as Purple, Pink Red and Deep Red. These matte lip crayons are just gorgeous and a combination of the three is a favourite of mine to wear daily. Again, like with the matte lip bullet, despite being matte they still apply very smoothly and don't make your lips appear dry. They are also smooth enough to be applied with a lip brush for when you want to get a more defined matte lip. All round winners!

The No. 7 High Shine lip crayons in the shades Delicate Pink and Daydreamer also featured in my Christmas of a Thousand Swatches post and are silky lip crayons which have a similar consistency to lip balms and give off both subtle colour and subtle shine. They both look very natural and are great for when you want a more toned down make up look.

And finally, the Barry M Lip Liner Pencil in the shade Red / 3 which is one of my all time favourite lip liners. This liner plus a combination of the No. 7 Love Red and either the Maybelline Fatal Red or the Deep Red Fearne pencil is how I like to create the "perfect" red lip. Extremely pigmented, a gorgeous colour and also an excellent price at £2.99!

What are your favourite lip products? 

(This is not an advertisement for any of the above products or companies nor am I being paid or sponsored for this post.)