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!). 

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse Lipsticks

The L'Oreal Rouge Caresse lipsticks retail for just £7.99 and have been around for quite a while, however, I have only just purchased my first few.

Much like the much-loved 'Revlon Lip Butters', the L'Oreal Rouge Caresses are light-weight, buttery lipsticks that feel more like a tinted lipbalm. Easy to apply, these bullets of lovelyness are handy for on the go and can be applied without a mirror. They can be applied as a subtle wash of colour, or can be built-up to be more opaque. As they are quite sheer, they are quite glossy and are great for summer. They come in a shade to suit everyone from bright pink, to nude.

The colours I have are '202 Impulsive Fuchsia' and '301 Dating Coral'. I picked these colours as I thought they would make great summer shades (and are colours I don't already have in my collection).

L - 'Dating Coral' (3 swipes, 1 swipe)         R - 'Impulsive Fuchsia' (3 swipes, 1 swipe)

'Dating Coral' is an orangey coral which isn't too bright - I find it really hard to find corals that suit my skin tone and that I am confident enough to wear.

'Impulsive Fuchsia' is a bright blue-toned pink that would flatter many different skin tones.

I really like the packaging as they are very sturdy and the top of the bullet is a metallic version of the colour of lipstick, making it easy to see which shade you are grabbing.

So, as I mentioned before, these can be compared to the 'Revlon Lip Butters' however, I think I prefer L'Oreal's buttery offering. They are not as 'slippy' so stay on longer and in my opinion, feel nicer on the lips.

The one downside of these products are that they sometimes cling to any dry patches on my lips so just make sure they are nice and smooth.

Overall, I would highly recommend the L'Oreal Rouge Caresses and they also have another version of this product - the 'Rouge Caresse Coeur de Perle', as these lipsticks have a pearly centre which gives a pearlescent finish.