Crabtree & Evelyn

I received two presents from Crabtree & Evelyn this Christmas. Now, I'm not really into skincare, I rarely find anything that my skin actually agrees with and so I just stick to a few products from Lush. However, getting a few products from Crabtree & Evelyn gave me the opportunity to try out a few new products (and a brand I'd never even gave a second glance). 

I got the Tarocco Organge, Eucalyptus and Sage hand cream and a Wysteria giftset, which features a shower gel, a body cream and a little hand cream. As I said, I've never been really into skincare, and I do not care for hand or body creams. They seem like a nice idea, but they never seem to absorb properly and often feel quite greasy. 

However, these little treats have wholly changed my mind. They smell heavenly (esp the Orange one), they absorb really quickly, and leave me feeling soft, instead of greasy and yuck. I absolutely adore them! I'm so happy I was given these, as I would have never thought to try out their products. I think I'll definitely be popping in to my local store to see what else they have in store though! 

<3

New treats~

Hey! I thought I'd share a few things I've picked up recently, sort of as a sneak peak into what I'll be reviewing in the next few weeks! :) 

I treated myself to the Naked 3 palette when it came out (no regrets: prettiest palette ever <3), and got the Naked Basics palette as a Christmas present! I also got a Debenhams gift card for Christmas, and so I bought three things I've wanted for ever: Illamasqua's Raindrop and Jo'Mina nail polishes, and MACs Snob lipstick! Ahh I've not even taken them out of their packaging yet, I'm so excited to see them :D I'll be reviewing these (and maybe a few more things) in the coming weeks, so I hope you'll stay tuned :) 

<3

I'm Back!

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the awfully long hiatus, but I'm back, and I'm gonna do my very best to stay back! I'll get some posts up in no time and hopefully you'll enjoy them! :)

<3

Purple lipsticks part two

As promised, here is the second part of my purple lipstick collection. In this post, I'll be talking about my deeper/darker purple shades. 

(from l-r) Miners Lip Colour (no shade/name on tube), Mac Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Goes and Goes, Mac Up The Amp, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Va Va Violet, Lord & Berry Intensity Mauvette, Barry M Ultra Moisturising Lip Paint in 156, Vicious Violet.

Lord & Berry Intensity Lipstick in Mauvette

Mauvette is not necessarily a dark purple, more a muted blue toned mauve-pink colour. It is wonderfully creamy but it is very drying, and has little staying power. 

Mac Up The Amp

Up The Amp is a deep blue toned berry-purple , it is an amplified lipstick and thus is wonderfully creamy whilst maintaining an excellent pigmentation. It is long lasting (easily four hours +) and is quite staining as well. As with Mac lipsticks, it isn't at all drying, and is just over all a lovely lipstick. 

Mac Pro Longwear Lip Creme in Goes and Goes

Goes and Goes is a very dark blackberry/grape indigo. It is not the easiest colour to work with as it is very blue leaning, and extremely pigmented. It is incredibly longwearing (as its name would suggest) and would easily last all day, and surprisingly, despite this, it is not at all drying. Just another lovely lipstick from Mac!

Miners Lip Colour (purple shade)

I really wish that the name or shade number of this was on the case! Anyway, this lipstick is a lovely dark berry (like what you'd get if you squished blackberries) colour. Definitely one for the autumn/winter months! It's more wearable than Goes and Goes or Revlon's Va Va Violet, but it gives a lovely dark violet berry shade. It is very pigmented and thus tends to stain, which in turn means it is quite long lasting, and not at all drying. 

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Va Va Violet

Va Va Violet is a shade I picked up on a whim and in the 2 years I've had it, literally never worn. But it's a lovely colour (it is probably more suited to darker skin tones). It is a very dark violet that leans very close to black (perhaps a more user friendly alternative to black lipstick?) As with most revlon lipsticks, it has great pigmentation, and because it stains, I will assume it has good staying power.

Barry M Ultra Moisturising Lip Paint in Vicious Violet

Vicious Violet is a shade that leans closer to dark pink than purple, but there is still a definite note of violet in there. It applies lovely and has great staying power, and, as the name suggests, features a hint of moisture in there too!

(from L-R) Lord & Berry Mauvette, Mac Up The Amp, Mac Pro Goes and Goes, Barry M Vicious Violet, Miners 'Purple', Revlon Va Va Violet

I hope you enjoyed my collection post :) x

yet another haul post~

I am ridiculous, I bought plenty of makeupy treats last week, and yet today when I was about town, I just couldn't help myself! Oh dear, maybe I'll stop after this haul! (We all know I won't...)

Anyway, I got a few treats that I've been wanting for ages, Urban Decay's Smoked Palette, Gosh's infamous Holographic nail polish, and then I got L'oreal Feria's Extreme Platinum Power and Pastel Pink Panther, and a teal Miss Sporty polish!

I was on the search for the perfect teal nail polish that had a more blue than green tone and I just came across this in the most unlikely place! I've never really paid any attention to Miss Sporty, but this is such a lovely colour. Unfortunately, it doesn't say what shade it is on the bottle, and I can't remember, but I'm sure it's easy enough to find in store :)

(Miss Sporty nail polishes retail in Superdrug and Boots for £1.99)

Gosh's wonderful Holographic polish! I've wanted this forever, but I never got round to actually buying it, but I'm so happy I did! I don't think this picture gives it justice, but it is such a lovely polish, properly holographic (so cool :D). However, it is really quite streaky, even with 3 layers, so it might be an idea to layer it over a silvery polish to get a better coverage? Also, it dries to a semi-matte finish, which I was surprised at. Overall, the formula isn't the greatest, but it's forgivable considering how wonderful the actual colour is :)

(Gosh nail polishes retail in Superdrug for £4.99)

I bleach my naturally dark blonde hair, and I ususally use Jerome Russel, but I didn't feel like it gave me the lift I require (I like my hair to be white blonde as a clean slate to put pastel toned colour in!) and I noticed that L'oreal Feria's Extreme Platinum Power claims to lighten hair up to 8 levels, which, if true, would definitely bring my hair up to white, so hopefully it works! What I like about the colourant is that it comes with a purple toning conditioner, which bleach/blonde hair kits really lack. 

The Pastel Pink Panther toner is, well, a pastel pink toner! I can imagine it is just like a pink hair dye mixed down to a light pink, and I've heard good things about it, so I thought I'd check it up. Once I get round to trying these out, I'll try and show you the results! 

(L'oreal Feria colourants retail in Boots and Superdrug at £5.79)

Last, but definitely not least, is Urban Decay's Smoked Palette. I had wanted this palette for ages, for two reasons, UD's eyeshadow primer, and a beautiful eyeshadow; Mushroom. I've been admiring Mushroom for months, but it took me until today to actually buy the palette! Smoked has ten eyeshadows, five of which are exclusive to the palette, a travel sized eyeshadow primer, and a full sized 24/7 eye pencil in Perversion, pretty good for £35! 

(Urban Decay products retail in Debenhams!)

Haul and Reviews!

I swear, I only went in to boots to get cotton buds!! Of course, I couldn't help but notice that there is currently a 3-4-2 offer across all cosmetics, so of course, I had to indulge (twice over...)

I got two of Collections Cream Puffs in Cotton Candy (01) and Fairy Cakes (03). I'd wanted these for ages, as I wanted some more muted lip colours, but I rarely get along with Nude / muted lipsticks for some reason. On the tube, they are described as "Velvety soft, matt finish lip creme" (and also that they are a moisturising lip creme). I have since used both and can say that they are quite long lasting (3-4 hours), but not at all moisturising! The description of being velvety soft is accurate at the time of application, but after a few hours of wear, they become sort of sticky and horribly drying!  Another issue is that they are described as matte, but they have a slight shimmer or sheen to them, so they're a little off matte! 

Cotton Candy is a muted rose pink 

and Fairy Cakes is an orange-leaning coral.

Cremepuffs retail in Boots and Superdrug for about £2.99


Next in my haul was Barry M's Ultra Moisturising Lip Paint in Vicious Violet (156). Barry M's website claims that the Ultra Moisturising Lip Paint is "enriched with hydrating and lip nourishing Cocoa Butter for a soft and saturated finish" I have the Black Cherry (160) shade, and I definitely agree that the new lip paints are moisturising, but they also feel quite heavy after a few hours of wearing them. They are highly pigmented, definitely stain, and so last a very long time (over 6 hours at least!) They also have quite a shiny finish to them initially, but eventually dry to quite a matte finish (which is puzzling, as I would not associate matte finishes with moisturisation!) Overall, they are a nice addition to Barry M's already lovely selection of Lip Paints, and I'd definitely recommend checking them out! Vicious Violet is a deep, blue based berry shade, and feels a lot lighter than the Black Cherry shade, so if you don't have a colour like it, it's a definitely one to check out. (Barry M Lip Paints retail in Boots and Superdrug (and some Semi Chems) for £4.49!)

Next in my haul is a Natural Collection Blushed Cheeks blush in Pink Cloud. I never gave Natural Collection any attention until recently, when I discovered they held a modest collection of lovely pink based nude lipsticks (stay tuned for swatches and reviews!). I liked the look of this pinky-coral toned blush and thought I'd pick it up. The formula seems lovely, very smooth and not at all chalky.Natural Collections Blushed Cheeks range retails at £1.99 in Boots.

My final purchase from Boots was Barry M's Nail Paint in Cappuccino. In the bottle, Cappuccino looks like a browny-taupe colour, and it was one that I had my eye on for quite a while. On the nail, it looks different under different lights. Sometimes, it looks like a not-so-nice muddy brown colour, and in others, it looks like a gorgeous taupey-grey. Confusing! Barry M Nail Paints retail in Boots and Superdrug (and some Semi Chems) for £2.99