Liquid Lipsticks - Basically All I Wear Now

So Anastasia Beverly Hills released these liquid lipsticks a while ago and I fell in love. Then I found out it would be hellishly expensive to ship them to the UK. Thus, I instantly started investigating UK alternatives (and by investigate I mean I went into some stores and swatched a LOT).

Now, companies do liquid lipsticks, but many don't do suck-the-moisture-out-of-my-lips-mattes. But Sleek does, and I rejoiced, because they are reasonably priced and come in great colours. They only do six, though, and that's disappointing to me. (The sixth shade, that I don't own, is a bright pink, and as soon as I see it in a store I'm buying it).

I've mentioned the Bourjois ones before in this blog, but since then I've purchased more. These are a pseudo-matte, so they don't come across as matte in close-up, flash photography, but they mostly are in real life. They also feel a lot nicer on the lips than the sleek ones.

From the left: Fandango Purple; Grand Cru; Rioja Red; Hot Pepper; Party Pink; Don't Pink of It; Petal; Birthday Suit.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Grand Cru

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Grand Cru

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Don't Pink of It

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Don't Pink of It

This is Don't Pink of It with Mac's Boldly Bare Lip Liner, this is my preferred way to wear this,

Sleek Matte Me in Party Pink

Sleek Matte Me in Party Pink

Sleek Matte Me in Petal

Sleek Matte Me in Petal

Sleek Matte Me in Rioja Red

Sleek Matte Me in Rioja Red

Sleek Matte Me in Fandango Purple

Sleek Matte Me in Fandango Purple

Sleek Matte Me in Birthday Suit

Sleek Matte Me in Birthday Suit

The Bourjois lipsticks don't quite have the look I want, but they feel way more comfortable. I also prefer the applicator, it's smaller and softer. They are also slightly less pigmented, but in a good way in that they are buildable, you can also soften the edges with a cotton bud, which you can't really do with the Sleek ones. They are more expensive, though.

The Sleek lipsticks look exactly how I want them to, and I love the colours. The only one I'm not so fond of is Fandango Purple, as it applies a bit patchy. You have to be careful when applying, as it's really hard to fix when you go wrong, but the lines are so beautifully crisp straight from the applicator. They're also a pretty good price.

Overall, they do quite different things. If you are a bit lipstick shy, but want to try them out, the Bourjois ones are perfect. If you love intensity, Sleek is your jam. I love both.

The Sleek Matte Me Liquid Lipsticks sell for £4.99 and the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Liquid Lipsticks sell for £8.99.

Haul Of All Sorts - Literally No Excuse For This One, I Have A Problem

I've been popping up and down to London like nobody's business these past few weeks house hunting (which is a soul sucking experience). This has given me the excuse to be around well stocked Boots and Superdrug stores (I shop to forget). And, well, you get the idea. I bought some things and thus far I'm loving all of them.

From Left: Real Techniques Stippling Brush; Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge; MUA Lipstick in Shade 1; Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects in Blue; Seventeen Rock Hard Couture Nail Effects in Charm Bracelet; MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter in Pink Shimmer.

 Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge: 

This sponge is just so God damned brilliant. It just makes foundation and concealer look like I've always wanted it to look. Smooth. No unfortunate thick patches of colour, or streaks. This just blends it all away, baby. I wish I'd bought this sooner. The shape is great for doing different areas of the face, like I use the point for under my eyes and around the nose and the flat section for the rest of my face. I use this to blend in concealer and to blend foundation after it has been applied.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush: 

Again, I love this brush. I've a few Real Techniques brushes already in my collection and not a one has disappointed me. The bristles are wonderfully soft, the handles nice to hold and I'm rather in love with the different colours. I have a friend who needs all her brushes to be black with a silver ferrule - like Mac brushes. I, on the other hand, rather like the hodge podge of colours that my collection is. 

 The sparse bristles at the top allow a nice light, even coverage, and boy does it deliver. My face is looking pristine with this brush coupled with the sponge.

 MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter in Pink Shimmer: 

I'm an avid watcher of Nikkie Tutorials on YouTube and she has recently been recommending this highlighter. Now, seeing as this is MUA and therefore hella cheap, I made it a goal to purchase this.

 Seeing as I own a total of two highlighters, this seemed like a good investment to me. I have a liquid highlighter that is very gold toned, and a powder highlighter that is also gold toned, but to a lesser degree. So having a colder, pink based highlighter seemed like a good idea. The packaging isn't the best quality, but I think it looks good and it will hold together.

On the left is the highlighter blended out and on the right it is a single swipe of my finger. So it has good pigmentation, and the shimmer is just darn pretty. Which is all I really want out of a highlighter.

 MUA Lipstick in Shade 1:

This is another product recommended by Nikkie Tutorials. She recently did a review on her blog of MUA lipsticks, two were disappointing, this one was not. And she's right, cos this Lipstick is great. The best bit? It cost £1. The packaging isn't the prettiest I have, but it's functional, and I like the colour being at the bottom (it's actually functioning lipstick too!).

The colour applied like a dream boat. Smooth and pigmented in one swipe. The colour's also just great. Because who doesn't like a nice, rich red? The wearability is also pretty great, considering I wore it on a night out and I only had to reapply once. If your lipstick's still intact at four in the morning, it's a keeper.

 Seventeen Rock Hard Couture Nail Effects in Charm Bracelet and Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects in Blue:

 Now a friend of mine has been wearing Charm Bracelet for about two months now and every time I see it, I want it. I mean, just look at it. So I finally found it in a Boots and snapped it up. The colour does not disappoint (for both of them). I have been doing two coats, but one is perfectly acceptable, especially for Charm Bracelet. Also, being the formula that it is, it dries in no time and doesn't smudge, which makes me so happy.

These have both had two coats of colour.

Now here's the crux, these chip like little bitches. Like, I will have at least three nails chipped at the end of each day. I tried applying top coat, no dice. The only consolation is that it dries so quickly that fixing the manicure is a breeze. Also, the texture enables that even with many patch ups, the nails still look nice. So, this has been the longest manicure I have in a while, and that says something.

Emmeline out.

Nyx Haul - For When Needing To Replace One Thing Turns Into Buying Four Things

So, Nyx's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk is a certified staple in my make up collection. It's a rare day that I do not reach for this product (sky falling? blue moon?). So when I was down to a measly stub it was time to stumble back to the Nyx website and do some buying. Because who just orders one thing from online? Not me, certainly. Like, I'm paying for postage, I better make the most of it. Thus, Nyx haul.

Now, I have a bit of a split position on Nyx products. Some I absolutely adore (jumbo eye pencils, yo), others I'm fairly ambivalent about (glitter cream palette, anyone?). I've tried their nail polishes, that, whilst having an incredible range of colour, are a bit so-so on the formula side. Their eye shadows are buttery and pleasant to work with, but I very rarely use single eye shadows any more. I'm pretty in love with their Glitter on the Go shakers, but they're being discontinued. So, with these past experiences, I cruised on over to the false eye lashes. I was not disappointed. I also bought a lipstick, because I just want to love them, because a lot of them are named after Greek Gods, and that is a very fast way to get into my heart (and also my collection - see also Nails Inc polishes named after London Streets).

First things first, we have these BEAUTIES. Like, hot damn. These are the parrot lashes. Who knew I wanted to look like a tropical bird? Now, wearable is not a word to be caught dead in the same room with these lashes. But that's OK. Wearable isn't everything and I love doing crazy editorial looks. Also costume parties.

Just take a minute to fully appreciate these lovelies.

Next up are the Super Power lashes. These are more toned down than the Parrot lashes and I can conceivably see myself wearing these out. Because red and black are match made in the fiercest heaven.

I'm just in love.

Now we have the lipstick. It is called Hestia, who is the Greek Goddess of the Hearth. Now, this lipstick is far from homely. It's sex in a creamy and well pigmented formula. I often find Nyx Lipsticks a bit too creamy, I feel like they're just going to slide off my lips, despite having a respectable amount of staying power. I just feel like the formula is just sitting on my lips, rather than sinking in and feeling a little more natural. However, this lipstick felt a little nicer, to the degree that I will be reaching for this lipstick a lot. Because, guys, this colour. Dark red lips I feel are my spiritual lipstick home. I constantly get drawn to them, when buying and reaching for one to wear.

The ease of application caught me off guard. I was expecting to have a streaky and unpleasant mess with my initial application, but I got a nice even coverage that I went over to just build the colour a little. I'm one happy bunny with these purchases.

Mini Haul - AKA I Lack Self Control in the Face of Make Up

So I ran out of concealer, no big deal, just pop over to Boots and pick some up. HA HA HA HA. I can't just walk past a Barry M display. They constantly bring out new shades of nail polish and it just kills me because I want them all. This time around there was an offer that if one were to spend over £6 one could get a free limited edition polish, there were two colours, a blue and then one I bought - that stunning coral with a slight gold shimmer running through it. I mean, who could pass that up? Definitely not me, because there were also many other new gel polishes, I picked up a very pale pink and a pale olive. I rather like the gel formula, so bonuses all round (save for my poor overused purse).

And then I was buying things already so I bought two lipsticks from the Rimmel Kate Moss range, which, as my previous post shows, are some of my favourite lipsticks. I couldn't resist getting a darker shade, but I also wanted something more Summer-y. The texture of these is creamy and lovely.

Then to finish it off I bought a base coat from Rimmel that is supposed to look after the nails. I don't know if it's going to heal my much abused nails, but it did work as a really nice base coat.

 Can we talk about how cute the packaging is for all the special Barry M polishes?

From left to right: Olive, Rose Hip, Carouse! (Exclamation Mark is very much part of the name).

 Look at the gold shimmer in Carouse!, I've found my Summer shade.

 Rimmel Kate Moss Lipsticks in 16 and 30.

I feel like this shade is perfect for me. It's not even too dark for Summer - seriously, I feel odd wearing way dark lipsticks when the weather's this nice, knowing England it won't last much longer though.

 Nice even colour from one swipe, parfait!

 A lovely pinky coral, perfect for this weather and it'll look amazing with a tan.

 Being a pale colour it sinks into the cracks of my lips a little, but from a typical distance someone should stand from you it looks just fine, and if someone's getting up close and personal with your mouth that lipstick's not staying in place for much longer anyway.

My Favourite Lipsticks - And My Perhaps Questionable Taste

I thought I'd do a post documenting my favourite lipsticks of this moment. In general I lean towards Rimmel when it comes to lipstick; they are affordable, there are many colours, the texture is smooth and they are well pigmented. In particular, I love the Kate Moss shades - I have never been disappointed them.

For me, lipstick is all about colour. I'd sacrifice wear-ability and texture for colour any day. Lipstick can transform an everyday look into something striking and special. If I'm late in the morning and can only stretch to a cat eye, a lipstick is my jam. I can sleep in that extra half hour and still look fierce.

Then there are the lipsticks I want to just add a bit of colour to my lips, but not to compete with my eye shadow. These also tend to be my Summer shades, not that seasons really affect what I wear. The weather has been great recently and I've almost exclusively been wearing dark colours. I'm and Autumn girl at heart.

Height order, of course.

 This is Rimmel's Lasting Finnish Lipstick in 128 Starry-Eyed.

 This colour is my night out go to. I usually apply it as a stain, patting it on my lips focussing on the centre and blending it out. It's super sexy like this, wears really well and won't cause trauma if you want a sneaky kiss. However, for day time it's great worn at full pigmentation from the bullet.

 The colour looks darker in person, but is not too dark. It's a perfect colour if you want to branch into burgundies but don't want something that reminds you of your teenage self (we all had goth phases, right?). The texture is super smooth and applies consistently. It is fairly forgiving to dry lips, it's not gonna have the results of a lip balm, though. The wear-ability is just fine, but it won't last through a meal. However, it will survive many glasses of wine (meaning a bottle to oneself).

 Another Rimmel, this is 01 from the Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipsticks.

 This is my perfect red, man. It is a rich, blood red that is the sexiest lipstick I own. If you want a pin up red, this will do you nicely. This lipstick is pure sass for me. Pair this with a cat eye and some false lashes and you are sorted. When I want to bring my A-game, this is the lipstick I pick up.

 The texture is a dreamboat and it lasts a good long while, although if you're eating a burger, tops ups will be necessary. The colour is perfect first swipe. It is also fairly forgiving to a dry lip.

 My final Rimmel lipstick in this post, another Kate Moss one, it is 101.

 This is a lipstick I gravitate towards when I have got a whole lot going on with my eye shadow. It is a matte, but applies easily and smoothly. It's paler than my natural lip colour, so it can give a nice '60s feel to a look. It is not hugely pigmented, this doesn't bother me over much, as my own lips aren't very pigmented. However, if you have naturally red lips, you might want to blank them out with concealer before using this lipstick. This doesn't mean the pigmentation isn't there, it's just a pale colour to begin with.

 Now, this doesn't look so good close up. It settles a little in the cracks of your lips. That means this can't be worn if you have cracked lips. I've tried, then looked in the mirror and instantly changed the lipstick. It's a no go. This lipstick is a matte, so it's not hydrating, but it doesn't dry the lips either, it applies smoothly. Despite its limitations, it looks incredibly good with a dark eye, which is why it has a place in my favourites.

 This is my other 'complimentary to a heavy eye' lipsticks. It is also my go to Summer colour. If the sun is beating down, this colour is on my lips. It is Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti.

 For a Summer lip colour I want a sheer orange. Period. Orange looks good with my skin when it's slightly more tanned. Now, I bought this because beauty bloggers could not recommend it more, and I completely agree. It applies with ease, utter ease. It is a super low maintenance lipstick, and that is perfect for a sweaty Summer day. It wears off quite nicely, but can do that annoying crusting on the inside of the mouth, which is pretty gross. But because this colour is sheer, you can just rub it away and still have the colour on your lips.

It doesn't apply as evenly as I would like, but the edges can be happily blurred by using a finger to make it look nicer. It is flattering for dry lips and actively hydrates. The staying power is so-so for me, but that's because it is a sheer colour, so I don't pay as much attention to preserving it as I would with a darker colour. But I love it for how low maintenance it is. It is a no fuss lip colour, and a girl needs that sometimes.

 This is a recent purchase for me and my first Mac lipstick. It is called Heroine, not the drug.

 I have very little to say about this except the colour, yo. It is full on bright purple and I adore it. I've been wanting to branch out with my lip colours and this is totally perfect for it. Because it is a striking colour, there is very little doubt about that, but it is also not green or blue, so it's not completely outrageous. This is a go to for me if I want to look super stylish but haven't had the time to do anything interesting with my eyes. I tend to get compliments on it too, which is always rather lovely.

 It's Mac, so it's pricier than I would like, but you do get what you pay for. It's a matte colour, but applies super smoothly and comfortably. The wear is great, but won't be nice on dry lips. Depending on what I'm wearing this colour can be goth-y, but also Summer-y. It's surprisingly versatile and if I'm going out, but not wanting to go on the pull, I wear this shade. It is my fashionista shade.

 Now this lipstick is an iffy one for me, the colour stops my heart from how much I love it, but the formula leaves a whole lot to be desired. It is Depth by Topshop. Also, this packaging, though.

 This is a deep dark purple, it photographed lighter than it is. It is also less red in person. It is a red toned purple, but is definitively a purple. This is another shade that is all about style for me. It is a lipstick that speaks for itself. It is also very gothic. I have fairly warm colouring and couldn't look like a goth even if I tried, which means the lipstick isn't too much for me. This is very much a Winter lipstick for me, despite being incredibly unforgiving on dry lips. It is a very wet lipstick, which means it slips and slides around when applying, meaning getting a consistent coat is a little hard. I promise it looks better in person, though. Flash does nasty things to this lipstick, apparently.

 Up close like this it looks like a hot mess, but looking closely in a mirror does not reveal the imperfections. Again, evil flash. The wear isn't great, but I don't mind reapplying during the day. This lipstick is purely colour for me. I had been looking for a dark wet colour for such a long time and this stumbled and hobbled into my life. It's a pain, but it's fabulous enough for me to look past it. And that's what love is.

 Lastly, this is my number one boo. I've had this lipstick for years and it's still my favourite. It is a matte burgundy called Vamp by Sleek.

 This is a matte, so the wear is great, but it's hella unforgiving on dry lips. It's worth using a lip scrub for though. It takes about two coats to get it to the colour you want and it's very dry, but once it's there, it is there. Again, it photographed lighter than it is in reality, but not by a huge amount. It, like Starry-Eyed, is not so dark as to be too out there, however, the texture makes it less of a viable choice for those not so comfortable wearing lipstick. This is not a colour I would apply on my friends, but it is still my favourite.

 It borders the line between typical lip colours and outlandish ones (Tutti Frutti at one end and Heroine at the other). It is just out there enough to be striking, but not so much as to get funny looks. Which means it is exactly what I want out of a lip colour. This is my Autumn lipstick. As soon as September begins, I crack out this lipstick. Beautiful.