Autumn/Winter Lip Picks

 When it comes to lipsticks, I think Autumn/Winter has got to be the most interesting season. I think there's much more fun colours that you can play with at this time of year and I tend to wear much braver and bolder lip colours than during the Summer. I've put together a collection of a few of my all time favourite lipsticks for this time of year to hopefully give you some inspiration or new lisptick ideas for the coming months.

 My all time favourite shades at the moment are reds, purples and berry toned lipsticks. I'm not a massive fan of purple lipsticks when we're talking summery light purples but when it comes to deeper richer purples I looove them.

Clinique Chubby Stick in Grandest Grape is a pretty unusual colour for me. I'm not overly keen on it yet but I'm really hoping it grows on me because it looks lovely on other people so I shall persevere. It's almost a cool toned dark purple shade? It's a nice texture and obviously being a chubby stick is very moisturising. (review here)

Cruel is actually one of Topshop's gloss inks that they released early this year but it's the perfect deep purple shade for Autumn/Winter. I have previously done a full review on the gloss inks which I'll link here. It's more of a glossy alternative to a A/W lipstick however it is very messy which stops me using it as much as I would like to.

 Revlons lip butter in Raspberry Pie is definitely one of my favourite drug store picks for Autumn/Winter. It's not really red or purple toned, it's just that perfect berry shade. For a lip butter it is incredibly long lasting, pigmented and not at all messy. I really like the name too and think it suits the colour perfectly because it really is the colour of raspberries.

 Red Balloon is one of Mac's limited edition lipsticks from the playland collection so I wasn't sure whether putting this in was helpful or just taunting you but I thought I'd throw it in anyway because it could give you inspiration. It's probably the best pink shade that I could wear in Winter because it's so cool toned but isn't as bright as Girl About Town so it suits the colder season perfectly. As pink lips is my favourite I had to find a way to incorporate it into the current season and I think this is the lipstick to do it with.

 This one is a new addition to my Winter lipsticks collection and it's Kate Moss number 30. I've done a full review of this the other day but it's a gorgeous purpley red shade that smells delightful. Even better, it's so reasonably priced. (review here)

 Brave Red is my oldest red lipstick that I own. It's pretty similar to Russian Red by Mac just slightly brighter and much creamier because it's a Cremesheen finish. Although I love my deeper reds in Winter I also really like going for the classic red lip too. (review here)

 The second red lipstick I own from Mac is of course Russian Red which is much loved by every Mac lipstick fan. It is your classic red lipstick which has a stunning finish and lasts literally forever. You could eat, drink and sleep with this on and you'd wake up with it still on. Its lasting power is down to it being a matte lipstick though so that does mean it can leave your lips drier. For those that suffer from dry lips Brave Red is probably a better option. (review here)

Kate Moss 107 is another cult beauty product which everybody has fallen in love with. Its so so pretty and it just reminds me of Christmas time. The Kate Moss lipsticks always have a gorgeous smell too and the classic red packaging looks lovely on display.

 As you want victoria is one of Revlons moisturising lipsticks which I've also done a review on. It's super pigmented, creamy and glossy but very messy. This one is more on the pinky scale of things but I loved this one when I was too scared of the more bold shades so this one is really good if pinks in your comfort zone but purple isn't quite up there yet.

Left to Right: Kate Moss 107, Grandest Grape ,Cruel ,Raspberry Pie, As You Want Victoria ,Russian Red, Red Balloon ,Brave Red

Lots of Love,

♥

Clinique Baby Tint || Review

 I'm sure most of you by now will have heard of Clinique chubby sticks, if not where have you been?? Basically they are giant lip crayons that many other brands have now done imitations of because they're that good a concept. Clinique have now since come out with their Chubby Stick Intense which I have done a review of previously and now their baby tint chubby stick which is effectively the baby sister of the chubby stick.

The packaging as always with the Chubby Sticks is lovely with the silver ends and the lip colour in the middle. It's a bonus that the shade I have is a petal pink colour. The shade I have is number 1, budding blossom, they all have really cute names which is a massive plus in lip products for me.

 The colour is a really pretty baby pink shade which I expected to come out of the crayon like a lip gloss for some reason. However, it actually comes out like a sheer lip balm texture which would have been fine but it had next to no colour to it. It had a pretty sheen to it but if I'm honest as much as I love Clinique products I was quite disappointed because I expected it to be something special and well it just wasn't.

 I was actually kindly sent this product from Clinique to review so it not being great isn't too big a deal to me however had I paid the £17 for this that it retails at I would have been pretty annoyed! With this product I think you're more paying for the brand name because it didn't last any longer or look any different than any clear lipbalms I have, think like babylips or EOS lip balms. Therefore I will not be purchasing any more of these and wouldn't really recommend anyone else to either unless you have alot of money to spare and want an overpriced lip balm.

 It could be that because this shade is the lightest in the range it has less pigmentation and the others are maybe more like what you would expect. However, I would definitely suggest bobbing into your local Clinique stand to have a swatch and make your on mind up before you buy.

Have you tried the Clinique baby tints yet? What do you think of them?

Lots of Love,

♥

*This post contains PR samples.

September || Beauty & Non-beauty Favourites

 This favourites post is a combination of my favourites for August and September because I didn't have enough new favourites in August to do a post on them.

 My first favourite is definitely a September favourite and that is my Naked 2 palette. I feel like I always have one of my Naked palettes in my favourites but I always change my mind on which one I like best depending on the season. So now that the weathers been getting a little bit colder, I've switched my original Naked palette for the cooler tones of the second one. My ones a little mushed up when it comes to the shade 'Verve' because I dropped mines woops.. all other shades survived though thankfully!

 My skincare favourite of August was definitely the Eucerin even brighter day cream which I used every single day. I have done a full review of this if you're interested in reading about it. My September skincare favourite however is Clinique's pore refining solutions correcting serum. I cannot preach enough about this stuff, it is a skin revolution and I would urge anyone who has any pore problems to try it out because it is faultless. It's by far better than any other product targeted at pores on the market as it actually cures the problem instead of just disguising it. I've also done a full review of this on my blog here if you want to read even more about how amazing it is.

 Another Clinique skincare product that definitely deserves it's position in my favourites is the Clinique take the day off balm. Lots of other bloggers love this and I have joined the cult, it's fabulous at removing makeup and leaves your skin feeling lovely and silky. I really enjoy using this most days in place of my Bioderma (or after it) to give my skin a really good clean. As always I have already done a previous review of this on my blog if you want to know more. (Review here)

 Maybelline the falsies, a product I had heard loads about and refused to fall for the hype but I eventually fell and consequently fell in love, This product gives great volume, great length, has great lasting power and is cheap. It genuinely is one of the best mascara's on the market and it's just a bonus that it happens to be from the drugstore. (review here)

 My lipstick favourite this month is Russian Red by MAC which really surprises me because if you'd told me a few months back that a red lipstick would be one of my favourite products I'd have looked at you like you were mental. I used to be a massive red-lipstick phobe, I'm not sure why but I just felt like if I wore red lips everyone would be looking at me or that I looked ridiculous but I think it's a lot like orange lipstick in that you need to get used to the colour on you before you have the confidence to wear it out. I really like it and I always feel very Autumnal wearing it with my tartan scarf and chelsea boots. (review here)

My non-beauty favourites over the past few months haven't been anything new really there's only a few things that I feel are worth mentioning so I thought rather than not mention any at all I'd throw it into my beauty favourites post.

This month I went to see Sex Tape on my birthday and it was really funny. A typical rom-com that's great for watching with your girlfriends or your boyfriend... defo one to avoid watching with your parents though! It has a lot of laugh out loud moments. Inbetweeners 2 is another movie I went to see over the past few months and it's another hilarious one, I love the inbetweeners so I knew it would be a good one but it was even funnier than I expected it to be... you know how the sequel is usually never as good as the original? well this definitely broke away from that rule!

  Another non-beauty favourite has been my diary that I bought because I'm not sure where I would have been without it the past few months. It has helped so much with organising my blog, when I'm in uni, the uni work I have to do, when I'm in work, when my driving lessons are and when my blog events are etc. Definitely much better than iphone calender and notes if you have a hectic life.

 My fashion favourite this month is collared shirts. I absolutely love them under jumpers and on their own. Layering is one of my favourite things about Winter because I frequently jump from being freezing cold to boiling hot especially during Winter, coming in from the freezing cold to boiling hot central heated rooms inside. I also think they just look really cute peeping over jumpers.

What things did you love last month?

Lots of Love,

♥

Clinique Pore Refining || Review

  I have been on the hunt for a decent pore correcting treatment for the longest period of time. I have more of a problem with large pores than I do with spots or any other skin complaint. It's always something I've been majorly self conscious of and the main reason that I like to wear foundation other than to add a little bit of colour to my skin. So having tried a fair few different pore products and had them make zero amount of difference I know when I've found myself a good one.

 Clinique has a series of products that are targeted for helping to both disguise pores and shrink them. The one that interested me the most was the pore correcting serum because it's actually targeted at fixing the problem instead of disguising it which I haven't seen a product for before so I was really excited to try it. When I tried it, like the bottle promised I would, I noticed a difference the first time I used it, not a massive one but big enough of a change that I visibly noticed it. I used it alone for a few days and then after reading the packets on how they were meant to be used I used it with two of Clinique's other pore products after it. The concept behind this product is that it clears out dead skin and other debris that may be inside the pores to resurface them and the idea is that the pores will 'snap back into shape' because whatever the reason for them being large is being removed. Clinique guarantee that by using this product after two weeks you'll notice pores are 58% smaller. I use the pore correcting serum by itself at night time and in the morning I follow it up with two of Clinique's other pore targeted products. This retails for £39 which is way more than I normally would pay for a skincare product but I don't mind spending money on a product that works so this will definitely be getting repurchased.

 The second product I use in the mornings after I have applied my pore correcting serum is the pore refining stay matte hydrator. The concept of this product is to mattify the skin whilst hydrating it and it helps to keep excess oil and shine at bay for 8 hours. This is actually meant to be used twice a day after cleansing but I've only been using it in the mornings because I personally don't see why my skin needs to stay matte during the night?? (just me??). I feel this has really helped add to my pores shrinking and I really have noticed a massive difference since using the two products together. The stay matte hydrator is £34.

 The last product from my pore trio that I have been using is more of a Porefessional or Maybelline baby skin esque product (but much better) that is targeted towards disguising rather than curing. I had very high doubts for this product cause I'm yet to try a pore 'hider' that actually does what it's meant to do, make my pores either invisible or smaller. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this one which claims to make pores smooth and virtually flawless. I wouldn't say it made my pores flawless without any form of make up on, it did smooth over them and help hide them but with make up on it without a doubt makes your pores almost flawless. This retails for £20 (15ml) which I think is reasonably priced considering it's a fabulous product and the Porefessional is £24.50 (22ml) and I think this is streaks ahead of that.

I'm so glad I tried out these products and have finally found a pore product that works for my skin. I will 100% be repurchasing these products when they run out. They are quite pricey so if you just wanted to get one to try, the most effective for curing out of the three is the correcting serum.

Lots of Love,

♥

*This post does contain PR samples

Clinique Take The Day Off Balm || Review

 When it comes to cleansing and skincare routines, I've always had the attitude that whatever does the job quickest with the least mess is best. When I'm tired, the last thing I feel like doing is dragging myself to the sink and doing an extensive routine. Therefore I never really strayed from my Bioderma because it did the job and it did it fast and pretty effortless too but I think it is quite important for your skin to give it a proper deep cleanse too. 

 Recently I have been trying out the Clinique take the day off balm* which I had high expectations for because I had heard amazing things and because Clinique are the skincare kings. This product did not disappoint, it has a consistency very similar to Coconut Oil where it's solid at room temperature but when it comes into contact with your skin it turns to an oil. The oil when rubbed into your skin breaks down your makeup and removes it even stubborn water proof mascara.

 The consistency of this product is so lovely and it feels like a real luxury when you're massaging it into the skin. Once removed it leaves your skin feeling soft and supple which is definitely where I noticed the difference after using this instead of Bioderma. I did find myself wishing that it had a lovely fragrance though because it's completely non-fragranced however this would be a big plus for anyone with sensitive skin. I have a pretty normal skin type and it works amazingly on me but I also know people with both oily and dry skin who have tried this product and loved it so it definitely seems like a people pleaser.

The only negative I've had with this product is that when removing eye make-up it can blur your vision for a few minutes if the balm gets in your eye which doesn't hurt but just feels really annoying and it also makes a bit of a panda eye effect but that washes straight off with a warm face cloth. I still have continued to use this to remove my eye makeup, just carefully but if I was tired or in a rush I think I would use my Bioderma to remove my mascara first and then use this balm for the rest of my face. 

 Although this product is up on the higher end of skincare products at £22 I can already see that it's going to last me a very long time. Even though I've been using it everyday there's barely a noticeable amount missing because you only need the smallest amount to breakdown the makeup.

Have you tried any of Clinique's skincare items? Next on my list to try is the take the day off cleansing milk!

Lots of Love,

♥

Clinique || Event & Haul

 A few weeks back now I was invited by BBC Radio One DJ Gemma Cairney to a VIP Clinique event in a secret venue up town. This secret venue actually turned out to be a stunning house on Carlton terrace that had quite possibly the most beautiful interior design inside. It was all very lovely, there was a lot of people there and I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Kate from Gh0stparties and Adrienne from Thesundaygirl. It was such a lovely event and I wish I could have stayed a bit longer but if I'm honest I felt so overwhelmed and anxious that I left after a few hours because I just felt so out of place. Everyone there was so important and I didn't really know anyone else there and the busy environment only made me feel more panicky.. anxiety is awful! I'm really glad I managed to go though because I met some amazing people and got the opportunity to try out some amazing products. Even being there a few hours was an achievement for me because a year ago I'd have ignored the fact that I'd been invited and been too anxious to even go so small steps.

 As I left early I didn't actually pick up my goody bag so Clinique kindly emailed me saying would I like my goody bag to be sent out to me so obviously I said yes because who wouldn't want a bag of Clinique goodies?! Long story short, the Royal Mail confiscated it because it contained perfume which is apparently a 'restricted good' so it didn't arrive. After a few weeks I emailed Clinique to let them know I hadn't received it so they knew I wasn't just being rude and not thanking them. They then asked me if there was anything I would specifically like to try out so I said the take the day off balm because I'd heard wonderful things about that and the pore refining correcting serum. A few days later I received a big parcel which contained those two things and lots of other goodies for me to try out and review. Then this morning I came home to find that the original perfume they had sent and a custom repair serum had finally arrived with a note from the post office about how they had to confiscate them etc.



Left to Right:- chubby stick, baby tint, cheek tint, chubby stick intense

 I feel very, very lucky to have this opportunity to try out all these skincare and makeup bits. Never did I ever think when I started this blog at the start of the year that 8 months later a company like Clinique would want to work with me. It really does give you that boost when you see your hard work paying off. If there are any of these products you'd specifically like a review on then please do let me know!

What's your favourite Clinique product?

Lots of Love,

♥

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense || Review

 Last week I was invited to a Clinique event in town and we were allowed to swatch their chubby sticks and pick a shade to take home. There were two types of chubby stick the regular ones and the intense ones and being a bold lipstick junkie I much preferred the bright colours that the intense sticks gave. After much umming and aahing and deliberating on whether to pick another bright pink which I know I would wear but I already have 100 of I decided it was time to be adventurous and pick something different.

 So in the end I went for a dark purpley plum shade which will be the perfect shade for Autumn/Winter. It is much scarier than any colour lipstick that I normally wear but I really hope that I can pull it off. I personally think it will look amazing with leggings, chelsea boots, a leather jacket and I'm really excited to play around with it when the weather gets colder.

 Firstly I love the packaging of these, I do prefer the traditional lipstick packaging but out of all crayon lipsticks Clinique definitely steal the show for packaging. I love the silver lid and twisty bottom with the coloured section in the middle that matches the shade of the actual product. It also makes me really happy that the bottom is twist up so that no giant sharpeners are involved which always annoys me because I can never find a sharpener that fits.

 The colour pay off itself is good, it's not as pigmented and opaque as say a MAC lipstick but it is more of a pigmented version of their normal Clinique chubby sticks. I find the colour to be a pretty good dupe to MAC's Rebel but less opaque and more moisturising. The pigmentation can be built up on the lips to intensify it even more which I like because I'm definitely more a fan of the bold lips look than sheer ones. The secret to the moisture in Cliniques chubby sticks is apparently down to the shea butter and mango seed butter and jojoba seed oil in them. With it being a darker colour it leaves a nice stain even after the moisture has soaked in which leaves you more time to top up the lipstick without that awkward patchy fading lips look!

 I'm actually really looking forward to styling this during the coming months as it will certainly add a bit of edge to an outfit. What are your favourite Autumn/Winter lipsticks?

Lots of Love,

♥