L'Oreal L'extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick

Despite usually being a bit timid when it comes to lip products, recently it feels as though I've been buying very little else and, here comes the strange bit, actually enjoying playing around with different glosses, lipsticks, crayons etc.

I have been reading about these 'liquid lipsticks' for some time now and I'll be honest, I thought they were another gimmick on the market to help us beauty fanatics to part with our cash. That was until I found myself online shopping a few days ago (no surprise there!), and one suddenly jumped into my cart.

L'oreal L'extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick By Color Riche in Nude Ballet £8.99

When this lipstick/gloss hybrid arrived through my letter box, I was quite excited to finally get my hands on one and see what all the fuss was about. Let me just say this, I don't think I've ever used a product like this before. I was expecting something like the NYX Lip Cream as the name would suggest. However, I found this product to be a very pigmented (lipstick like) gloss, that isn't super glossy and is long wearing. A strange one, but I like it. The colour that I chose is a lovely and very wearable pink nude which is super flattering and doesn't look too pale on the lips.

The packaging is quite luxurious for the reasonable price tag with its gold colored vial with a window so that you can see the shade inside. It has a lid that twists off to reveal a doe foot applicator which is very soft and easy to apply the product with. The product inside smells gorgeous, it smells very sweet without being too sickly and I didn't notice the fragrance at all after ten minutes of wear.

I gave this lip colour a proper trial run yesterday during a ten hour shift hosting a wedding at the country house hotel where I work. I applied it before my shift (2pm) and didn't need to reapply until around 6:30pm. That's a whopping 4 and a half hours of wear, pretty spectacular for a glossy product in my opinion. And I should mention, I was super busy rushing around and had been eating and drinking within those four and a half hours. Super impressive! One thing that I did notice was that even when the 'glossy' side of things had worn off, there was still colour pigmentation left on my lips - they were not completely bare.  

And then there were the compliments, I was complimented on the colour of my lipstick/gloss on four separate occasions throughout the day - more than usual for a nude lip colour and something that I wasn't expecting at all. 

Today (the day after wear) my lips do not feel dried out or in need of some tlc at all which they can sometimes after using a lip product for a lengthy period. I think I'm going to have to invest in some of the bolder shades of this range.

So if you're looking for a reasonably priced lipstick/gloss hybrid with an array of wearable shades, looks no further! Now, where did I put that bank card...?

Have you tried any of the L'Oreal L'extraordinaire Liquid Lipsticks? What did you think to them?

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Vichy DermaBlend Foundation Review

I really wanted to share with you a foundation that I have been using for a few weeks and have fallen completely in love with! Since my first use of this foundation, I haven't reached for any of my old faithfuls at all which is a very rare occasion for me, as I tend to switch up my foundations daily. 

I first heard about this foundation when Boots.com started to stock it, first of all I was interested because there was an introductory offer (everyone knows I'm a sucker for an offer!) but sadly, they had sold out almost immediatly which is understandable. I did a little search and found it stocked on escentual.co,uk for £14.45. Before committing to the purchase I decided to have a little snoop around and do some research, and some of the claims I read literally bowled me over. Almost every review I read was a rave, people just couldn't say enough good things about this foundation and indeed, brand. I was sold. The second problem I faced was finding a good colour match. Buying foundations online always have the pitfall of 'will this shade match my skin tone'? and this one was no different. It also worried me that there were so few colour options with this foundation, only 5 in total; opal - which is the fairest shade that they do, nude, sand, gold and bronze. However, with the help of google I came across the site findation.com which asks for the shades in foundation that you currently use and matches you up to other foundations based on your answers. This site told me that I needed shade 45, and so I ordered it. The day after, whilst I was still browsing reviews and swatches the doubt that this colour would be much too dark for me set in. 

The very next day my parcel arrived (super quick delivery for only £1.95 right!?) and i couldn't wait to rip it open and try it on. The first thing that I noticed was that you only need a tiny, tiny blob of this foundation for a full face coverage - this is coming from mrs. full coverage by the way, which really does show how little you need! The colour, once blended is the most perfect colour match I have ever experienced. I used a little translucent powder to set this foundation, but I didnt use any concealer or bronzer at all. First of all, this foundation is so pigmented that it covered my under eye circles perfectly. I was so impressed. And secondly of all, because the colour match was so good I literally didn't need any bronzer to help boost my colour and match in with the rest of my skin tone. I can honestly say that I have used bronzer with a foundation every single day since I was around 15. This foundation hardly feels like you're wearing anything at all, its got the feeling of a bb cream or tinted moisturizer but the coverage of a super thick foundation. How do they do that? Incredible.

I found that this product doesn't block or clog my pores up in the slightest, and infact if anything the blemishes I did have on my forehead, disappeared after a few days of using this foundation! Coming to bed time and taking my makeup off was an absolute breeze, this product just seemed to melt from my skin with one swipe of a cleanser.
This foundation lasted on my skin for about 9 hours, with the occasional blot touch up. The only downside for me with this foundation is that because I have an oily t-zone I did need to blot that area every couple of hours. You may not find this if you're not as oily as I am, or if you don't work in a hot environment as I do.

This is by far, my Holy Grail foundation, and I cant see myself falling out with this one ever! It hasn't made me break out in the slightest, and my skin feels a lot healthier now that I'm using this product. I genuinely cannot say enough good things! If you're looking for a lightweight, cover everything foundation you need to look at this one, super price and amazing results - I'm ordering more as soon as this post is up!

Have you tried this foundation, or any other products from this brand? Did you enjoy using them? What is your Holy Grail Foundation?

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Matching Lips & Nails

So, its a fairly easy concept. I like my nails and my lip colour to match, be it nudes, reds and pinks (pictured below).

For this look I selected a lipstick and nail colour in very similar colours, they do in fact vary  ever so slightly, but the difference is so small that you can barely tell by the finished product.

The lipstick I used for this fuchsia pink colour injection was the Rimmel Moisture Renew in As You Want Victoria £6.49 here. Rimmel have created a really nice, affordable range of lipsticks in a rainbow of colours. They are extremely creamy upon application, dry to an almost matte finish and do not dry my lips out at all, which is no mean feat - I am prone to dry flaky skin on my lips! Its a beautiful, long lasting colour that I think would suit a lot of skin tones. I always get compliments on my lips when I wear this particular lipstick and although it took me a while to build up the courage to wear such an 'in your face' colour, I'm really glad I did!

The nail varnish that I have partnered up with this lip colour is Rimmel Salon Pro Nail Polish in Simply Sizzling £4.49 here. I have found that brands will often make other products in a similar colour to one that you have already picked up, so I was very happy to find that Rimmel did a near perfect match to the lipstick that I had already chosen. I applied two coats of this nail varnish and finished it off with a Sally Hansen Insta-dry top coat which adds a super shiny, protective and fast drying coat to any nail varnish.

I find that matching up my lips and nails really livens up any outfit and makes me look a whole lot more 'put together'. I am also aware that celebrity stylists make sure their clients are often sporting a matching nail and lip combo!

What do you think? Have you tried the matching lip and nail combo? What did you think? I'd love to hear from you guys!

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Makeup Products I Couldnt Live Without

Wow! That's a dramatic title however, the aim of this post is to let you guys know about the products I would hate to have to leave behind. You're only allowed one product for each category e.g. foundation, mascara, lipstick etc. So lets begin..

Primer:
Two guesses for this one! I have so many favourite primers but nothing comes close to my beloved Benefit Porefessional. This primer leaves your skin with the most gorgeous soft feeling skin, helps keep your makeup on for much, much longer and definitely helps me with my oily t-zone

Foundation:
This is so hard! I'm a bit of a foundation junkie and have 17 in my collection now. URGH, here goes. I'd have to pick my  Estée Lauder double wear foundation. I love everything about this foundation. I love the colour match, the wear time, the coverage, I've never had an argument with this particular one and it always does what I want it to.

Concealer:
I would have to pick my Stila Stay All Day Concealer in shade 06. I've picked this one because its super creamy and provides really good coverage. I use this under my eyes to camouflage my natural shadowing and around my nose to cover some of the redness that sometimes appears there.

Setting/Translucent Powder:
There's only one choice for me in this category! It has to be Rimmels Stay Matte Powder. I use this to set my foundation almost everyday and I've been using it since I was about fourteen. I've tried to branch out but something about this powder draws me back in time and time again.

Bronzing Powder:
Although not strictly a bronzing powder, this is the one I use for a bit of colour and contouring. Its the MAC Mineral Skin Finish in Dark - I have recently swapped the medium dark for the dark because as you are probably aware, British summer time is just around the corner and that means I'll be tan, tan, tanning! I love how easily this powder applies with a big fluffy brush & has great staying powder, it hardly every fades which means I hardly ever have to reapply and the compact lasts forever. Winner!

Eyebrow Product:
GAH! This is a hard one too, I usually go through spurts where I will use a certain product for a while and then swap it for a different one. Repeat until you've run the cycle & start again. Which means the only fair thing for me to do would be to pick the one I'm using at the moment. This is the Beauty UK Simply Define Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Brown. Its super easy to apply and even has a little spooly on the lid to help you keep brushing and blending out those brows!

Blusher:
My all time favourite blusher that has been in my makeup collection for years is MAC's Melba. This is a beautiful shade for every day use and suits almost every skin tone. Its a clear winner and I have repurchased this again and again!

Eyeliner:
As I've recently had a bit of a fall out with liquid eyeliner I've opted for my favourite eyeliner pencil. This is Illamasqua's colouring pencil in Black. Its a super sleek, easy to use and blend basic black pencil. It doesn't drag the skin during application and my super sensitive eyes have never had a reaction to it (fingers crossed!!).

Mascara:
Mascara and false eyelashes are my weakness and I have quite a penchant for hoarding them so picking just one is definitely a toughy! So I'll go with the one that I've repurchased again and again, Maybelline's Volume Express Colossal Smokey Eyes Mascara. This is a really buildable mascara and I've always found that it holds a curl well.

Eyeshadow:
As you may already know, I'm not a massive eyeshadow user. So if I had to I'd pick MACS single eyeshadow pot in Nylon. I use this to highlight the inner corner of my eyes and also my brow bone. Surely by now you know I love a multiple use product!

Lipstick:
My all time favourite and everyday lipstick choice is MAC's Myth. I cannot get over how versatile this lip colour is, it has worked for every single look I've ever created. I'm a big fan of playing down the lips and letting the eyes rule the show as I prefer my eyes over my lips. Its so creamy feeling and last for ages without a top up, especially if you use Lipcote over the top!

Lipgloss:
My favourite ever lipgloss was unfortunately a limited edition. Which sucks! It was the Lancôme Juicy Tube and I cant even tell you what shade it was as the information rubbed off the back! It was the most beautiful candy floss coloured gloss with plenty of glitter in it. Unfortuantly I've never found anything like it! I did settle for the juicy tube in lychee but it just hasn't really done anything for me. BOO!

Nail Polish:
Even though I'm usually Mrs Boring, this is probably the only area where I crave a little colour. My favourite ever nail colour is OPI's You're Such A Budapest. Its the most delightful purple/blue. Its perfect for spring and I get so, so many compliments whenever I wear this shade. I've recently had to buy my third bottle of this as I'm using so much of it!

Tan:
This one was a really easy category for me, I used to be fake tan junkie but recently I've toned it down a lot. Instead I've been using Palmers Natural Bronze Tanning Moisturiser instead. This gives a buildable, natural looking tan and doesn't dry your skin out or cling to your already dry bits like other fake tan products do. Whenever boots has their 3 for 2 offer on I always stock up on this! I use it everyday after my bath/shower in the morning. The moisturiser sinks in very quickly and after a few hours you can see a lovely tan coming through. It wears fairly well and I don't often have to scrub it off (only if I've gone a little over board and get the inevitable patchiness around the hand/wrist area). As with all Palmers products, it smells incredible and people always comment on the scent.

So that's about it, all those above are my 'desert island' makeup products. Although, if I was alone on a desert island I'm not at all sure I would need all of those!

What are your 'cannot live without' products? Let me know!


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