Autumn Lipstick Loves

As promised, a post all about my top autumn lip products. Lipsticks are definitely my 'thing' (you'd never have guessed it from my blog title), which means I always leave Boots with pink swatches up my entire arm. When it comes to autumn, I favour the darker shades of lippies, and boy oh boy have I found some firm favourites. 

Two of the obvious choices for the colder months are MAC's Rebel Lipstick and Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry. These goodies are spoken about yearly by numerous beauty bloggers, and no matter how hard I try to reach for something a bit different, I always go back to these. Both have beautiful, creamy formulas, and are perfectly dark. MAC's Rebel is a deep pinky-plum tone, whilst Revlon's Black Cherry is a truer berry shade, darker and a little more red. 

Two newbies are the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo and the Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in Berry Much. I finally got my hands on the NYX lip cream at IMATS in August, but I only started wearing it recently and I instantly fell in love. It's a beautiful, long lasting, matte deep red, with a hint of pink - perfect. The Maybelline offering is new to UK shores, only arriving a few months ago. Rumoured to be very similar to the NARS Lip Pencils, I snapped them up ASAP, and I'm so glad I did. My favourite is the deep berry one, and it's so easy to use, matte and long lasting (sensing a theme here).

MAC's Plumful Lipstick is my top pick if I want something slightly less intense. It's a lustre finish, which is my favourite MAC formula as they are so glossy and comfortable on the lips. As it's a lighter plum, it's much easier to wear and goes with most makeup looks. When I want an even sheerer colour with a glossier finish, I go for the Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Crayon in Plum Jam, which, as the name suggests is a 'chubby stick' type of product. It's a lovely reddy-plum colour and is so easy to swipe on in a hurry without use of a mirror. It's super affordable too, balancing out my MAC obsession. 

Whilst I up the vamp and channel my inner punk, I'd be really interested to know what your autumn lipstick loves are!

IMATS London 2014 Haul + Experience

Last weekend was IMATS London, and I was lucky enough to get to go. As a beauty junkie, there's nothing more appealing than walking around a huge room filled with discounted makeup and incredible, talented makeup artists. 

I went on the Saturday with my friend, Louise, as we thought it would be slightly less busy, and I'm not too sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't too crowded. Don't get me wrong, you still had to (politely) push your hand through the huge gathering of people, in order to get near that lipstick you wanted to swatch so badly, but getting there early really helped! We were queuing outside at 7.45am (the doors opened at 8.30am) which meant the booths weren't too busy.

I picked up some bits that I really wanted, but managed to hold back enough so that I didn't faint from totaling up the prices when I got home! 

Lime Crime Lipstick (Centrifuchsia) - £10

NYX Powder Blush (Taupe) - £4.50

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream (Monte Carlo) - £4.50

Crown Brush (no number/writing) - £3

Crown Brush (C200 Deluxe Crease) - £3

Crown Brush (C149 Small Round Contour) - £2

Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer (Shade 4) - £14.80

INGLOT 5 Pan Freedom System Palette - £6

INGLOT E/S (448 Pearl) - £3

INGLOT E/S (465 DS) - £3

INGLOT E/S (358 Matte) - £3

INGLOT E/S (420 Pearl) - £3

INGLOT E/S (389 Matte) - £3

Considering the amazing quality of INGLOT eyeshadows, £21 for a full 5 pan palette was such a bargain, and I'm so glad I finally got my hands on the MUFE concealer as it's so highly raved about! 

I also got to meet one of my favourite Youtubers, Grace, from UglyFaceofBeauty, who I have been watching for 3 years - she was super lovely and so easy to chat to! I also saw a few other Youtubers, which was so cool, and some incredibly talented artists, like Einat Dan and Neill Gorton. 

It was such a fantastic day, and I really can't wait to go again next year (providing my bank account has recovered by then!). 

Blemish Busting Face Masks

GCSEs have left me with breakouts here, there and everywhere (OK, only on my face), due to stress and copious amounts of chocolate to get me through revision. As a result of this, I've been reaching for the face masks more than usual and I've found some favourites. 

I've spoken about Lush's Mask of Magnaminty before, but I just really, really love it as it does an amazing job of clearing up my skin. Now in a new self-preserving formula, it lasts for 4 months, and I find that I can usually use the smaller tub in that time if I use it once a week. It contains peppermint oil, honey, kaolin and ground aduki beans (thanks internet), which not only makes it cooling, but also exfoliating. Lush, you've done it again. 

I've been trying out the Avene Cleanance Mask for a few months now, and I've really enjoyed it. Although difficult to get hold of (Escentuals, I salute you) and only coming in a 50ml tube, I've found that a little goes a long way, and it does a great job at clearing up those pesky blemishes. 

Lastly, the SuperFacialist by Una Brennan Tea Flower Deep Clean Pore Purifying Clay Mask (what a mouthful!) has been the mask I've been grabbing if I want my skin to feel more refreshed and detoxified. It contains salicylic acid and dead sea mud, allowing it to unclog pores and remove excess oils, reducing the results of breakouts. 

So, with another 2 weeks until my GCSEs are finished, I guess I'll be getting a lot more use out of these.

No7 Pop & Glow Cream Blush Stick

Recently, No7 have been bringing out a plethora of great products and ideas, from their fantastic mascaras, to their innovative foundation shade match service, but there's one new release that got my heart pounding that little bit more than all the others.

 

 

The No7 Pop & Glow Cream Blushes (£9.95) are chubby sticks for cheeks, in a handy  wind-up tube. They come in 3 colours: Mango Sorbet - a peachy coral, Rose Blossom - a cool, bright pink, and Classic Rose - a deep pink shade. They don't exactly break the bank, at under £10 each, and with those No7 vouchers flying around, they come in at under £7 -  a bargain if you ask me. 

L-R: Classic Rose, Mango Sorbet

The first one I got was Classic Rose. Although it looks quite daunting in the tube, and admittedly at first swatch too, it blends down into a beautiful deep-rose flush, a perfect transition shade from winter to spring. It is very buildable, and blends like a dream (I use my fingers). The texture is very different to many other cream blushes I own - it applies as a cream, and dries as a powder. I know this isn't unusual (I'm looking at you Topshop Cream Blushes), but they have a lovely velvety feel, and don't look cakey or too powdery.

I also bought Mango Sorbet, as I thought that it would look amazing in the warmer months. As with the other one, it has a lovely velvety texture and is very buildable. It blends into a stunning peachy shade, which is particularly flattering on those with paler skin.

They are very long-lasting and easy to touch up on the go - they're the perfect cream blushes in my books.

My MUJI Makeup Storage

Makeup storage is a very personal thing that depends on the amount of space you have, and the amount of makeup you own. I've stored my makeup in makeup bags piled on top of each other, and in drawers, divided using the stereotypical Glossybox get up. 

Since the Kardashians showed their acrylic drawers, the MUJI acrylic range really came into its own, as funnily enough, not everyone could afford their $300 offering. For a long time, I put up with my ASDA plastic drawers, but seeing as this wasn't the most pleasing to the eye, I decided to invest in the famous MUJI acrylic drawers, and I'm so happy I did. 

Last month, I joined the rest of the beauty blogging community in housing my most-used makeup in affordable MUJI storage. I bought 2 of their 2 Drawers - Wide, for just £10.95 each, and the Acrylic Desk Pot - 3 Partitions for £5.50. The storage itself is really sturdy, and the drawers stack on top of each other perfectly - I'd highly recommend them. These drawers fit foundations, and allow you to stack blushers and bronzers on top of one another. In the future, I may buy more of these, but for the time being, this arrangement is ideal for what I need.

The other acrylic organiser sitting on top of the MUJI unit is from WHSmith, and I believe it is still available in store, but there are many alternatives around on eBay and Amazon.