Essence 'Come Naturally' Lipstick

I've never tried anything from Essence before, but I was in Wilko's today and I had a look at their lipsticks and grabbed this absolute beaut- the shade is Come Naturally.

Its a lovely muted purple/ nude shade, which it beautiful, but its the formula which is really impressive for such a budget lipstick. It's creamy and pigmented, not quite matte, and farily longwearing.  I would definitely recommend having a look at the Essence lipsticks, because this was £2.30 which is incredible, and the quality is just. Great. 

Here's a lovely swatch so you can see the colour a little better. This is a nice nude shade if you prefer something a bit darker rather than a pink or peach nude lipstick, or if you have darker skin.

This photo doesn't do it justice. The sun was going down, the light was all weird, and my camera is charging so I only had my phone. But you can see the natural finish and the smooth colour. Lovely.

It does't have the best wear time, because it feels so creamy, but I wore it for a couple of hours, and it faded nicely rather than drying and flaking off which is never nice.

 I will definitely be picking up some other shades because this is an amazing formula,

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Peaches and Cream: Easy Spring Everyday Make-up Look

If you love a peachy eye and a fresh, summer skin, head over to my YouTube channel and watch me putting my make up on and make my face look like this:

I'm not sure what's going on here, but my camera has made my skin look flawless. It's a lie.

All the products I used are mentioned in the video.

http://youtu.be/NyHb7Lre6hA

It's nice and easy and uses pretty much all drugstore products and brushes :)

Check it out, and appreciate my music/editting skills. Been working on dat ting alllll day.

Probably should be doing coursework...

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

My New Favourite Nude Lipstick for Summer

I bought a Kiko lipstick at the weekend, which I did talk about in my weekend post about my cheeky kiko purchases, but I needed to share an update. 

The lipstick is A-mazing.

Peachy pinky nude, moisturising, a natural sheen, a hint of glitter...

What's not to love? I think peachy nudes are the most flattering on my skin tone, but Kiko do tonnes of colours in these 'Smart Lipsticks' (this shade is 906), and they are £5, reduced to £2.50 most of the time.

Those of you who don't have a Kiko near you, I would seriously consider doing an order online, 99% of Kiko stuff is amazing and really worth the money.

What is your favourite summer nude lipstick?

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Top 5 Undiscovered Beauty Gems

There are a lot of things in the beauty internet world which get a lot of mentions, and most of them deserve it.

However, there are at least a few things in my collection which I absolutely love and I've never heard anyone speak about.

Here's a lovely swatch of the lipstick (MAC's Captive), liner (Collection 24hr Liquid Liner) and Cream eyeshadow (Bourjois 24h cream to powder in a mysterious colour)

Check out my YouTube video to find out more :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCECys22qgk3G01ozysH6rcA

thanks so much for reading/watching, please subscribe and follow my blog to keep up to date :)

Lou x

A Couple of Cheeky Kiko Purchases

As always on a Saturday, I found myself *accidentally* buying a couple of make- up bits on my lunchbreak at work. 

I wandered into Kiko, and these two beautiful vibrant shades fell into my hands.

Since I bought the 24- pan Kiko palette, I've become obsessed with picking up new shades and building up my collection. I have been so impressed with the quality of these shadows so far, there has only been one which is less than impressive- I go through my whole collection in my 'Kiko Palette' post which I did a few weeks ago.

These two shades are so vibrant and beautiful. I'm using my kiko palette to fill in the gaps in my eyeshadow collection, which is saturated with bronzes, browns and nudes. These are like Spring in an eyeshadow.

226 is the beautiful peachy pink, which I think would work amazingly well as a blush as well as an eyeshadow, especially because kiko eyeshadows come in such generous sizes.

252 is the muted lilac/purple. I am loving this colour so much at the moment, and I have nothing quite like it to create a bright, spring-y eye. Looking forward to giving that a go for sure.

As always, they are beautifully pigmented but silky smooth at the same time. When I create an eye look using these colours, I'll be sure to create a post on how they blended and wore- but knowing that the quality of my other eyeshadows is so good, I expect they will live up to others.

The lipstick is one of Kiko's smart lipsticks, and was on offer at 2.50, so I grabbed it. It's a pale peach: the kind of colour I LOVE this time of year. It's very sheer, a wash of colour with just the right amount of pigment to make it really pretty and wearable. Also- it smells like a MAC lipstick. I tried it on last night briefly and I couldn't get over how good it smells. It also leaves your lips feeling really nourished and plump. Definitely not a long-wearer, but one for the Summer months with a little more glossy- ness and the moisturising factor. (and the amazing price tag)

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Revlon Matte Balms ~ Swatches and Review

Spring has sprung, and I've re-discovered some old favourites.

As matte lipsticks go, these are top notch.

They feel smooth and buttery, smell of peppermint, and last like a dream.

I have three shades, from left to right - Showy, Audacious and Elusive. 

Here's Showy- it really is a lot more 'showy' than it looks here. It's a bright flamingo pink which looks amazing in the summer. It's quite blue- based so it also makes your teeth look really white. Love this one, would look even more amazing on darker skin tones.

Here is Elusive, and I've applied it here on top of a lip balm so you can see that there are different ways to wear the colours. They all work great mixed with a little lip gloss or balm to make a sheerer finish, but still packing a punch of pigment. This is such a beautiful, wearable natural pink, very flattering and grown- up, definitely a good one to pick up to try out the formula and see if you like it.

This is Audacious- a straight- up orange lipstick. I love this, I think orange is so flattering on all skin tones. It packs an amazing punch of colour, and is definitely one to look at for the Summer months.

When it comes to wear time, I would say they last four or so hours without needing a touch up. If I wear one of these balms, I carry round a lip balm or gloss with me to add over the top as the colour fades or breaks up as the day goes on. 

I would also always say to make sure your lips are moisturised before you apply these.

I would definitely recommend these if you like a matte lip. The colour selection is amazing, I'm tempted to pick up a few more...

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Laval Eyeshadow Palette ~ swatches and review

I really need to calm down with the old eyeshadow posts don't I...

I just couldnt resist sharing this one, it's so beautiful and so incredibly CHEAP.

This is the Laval Nude palette, available on amazon for £2. £2! 

Have a look at that amazing selection of shades...

This is genuinely my second one of these, I actually had to repurchase it because I used the first one up. 

Such a great collection of nudes, but with a twist- a really reddy brown, a purple, khaki's and two peachy shades.

I really recommend this palette if you're on a budget, they last really well and blend like a dream.

Here are the swatches:

Oh ma gosh. Dat shimmer tho....

Check out my video to see the peachy shades in action:

http://youtu.be/tAy_q_1xioY

Thanks for reading!

Lou xx