Dark Lip Haul & Tutorial

I do love a dark lip at this time of year, I just feel so festive with berry shades on my lips. However, this year I realised that all of my festive lipsticks were exactly that – berry shades with red undertones. I’ve been feeling a more plum vibe recently and none of my lipsticks were the correct shade for that sort of malarkey, so naturally an online shopping spree was in order.

I ordered Charlotte Tilbury’s Glaston-Berry which is a gorgeous deep plum shade, still with hints of red though; so I wasn’t straying too far from my comfort zone with this one. It’s very moisturising which is great as sometimes I find that dark lipsticks can be drying which can lead to unflattering chapped lips, which we all know is a lipstick’s worst enemy! I also like the fact that this can be either patted on with a light hand for a hint of colour, or layered up for an all out glamorous look. I find that this is a wearable colour for both daytime as well as nighttime occasions.

The other lipstick that I chose was MAC’s Cyber, this one is an extremely daring blackened plum shade. I can’t quite express how much I love it, I think I’ll wear this more so on an evening than during the day as it is such a bold colour. It’s a satin finish, so while the colour payoff is top notch, it’s not quite matte so is still moisturising on the lips.

I chose MAC’s Nightmoth lip liner to wear underneath both of these shades, it is a deep aubergine  colour which matches Cyber perfectly. I also like to wear it underneath Glaston-Berry, however it does make this shade appear slightly more purple; so I also like to wear Glaston-Berry by itself to enjoy the best of both worlds.

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Pick Of The Pinks



Clockwise from top right: MAC Fleur Power Blush  //  MAC Dollymix Blush  //  MAC Impassioned Lipstick  //  Topshop Nails Daydream  //  Essie Limo Scene

I love wearing pink hues at this time of year (or at any time on that note) to give me a natural and feminine look. I find that pale and nude shades have the ability to make you look fresh faced and youthful, while brighter shades are just perfect for a bold and pretty summer time pop.

So, here is my pick of the bunch when I’m looking for an instant lift to my complexion and a girly yet natural looking mani’...

MAC Fleur Power Blush – A warm toned pink. This is the more low key option of my two featured pink shades, a perfect one for all year round. If you’re looking for a blush that provides you with a healthy flush of colour, this is a perfect option. I like wearing this during the day with a slick of mascara and I also find it perfect for a night time when I’m opting for a more glam look on my eyes, it just adds that healthy glow without any crazy colour overload – we don’t want that! It has a satin finish which I prefer to matte shades which I find can be a little too powdery looking.

MAC Dollymix Blush – The name says it all, this is a bright candy pink and it’s just perfect if you’re opting for a girly doll faced look. However, don’t be put off by the crazy bright colour in the pan, when used with a light hand this blush adds a gorgeous healthy glow to your cheeks. It’s one of MAC’s sheertone shimmer blushes and while you can see the shimmer in the pan, it applies onto the face as a beautiful sheen. I don’t feel the need to use a highlighter when I use this, so if you’re into your multi purpose products then this is a great one. I love it for when I’m off on my holidays, it’s perfect for summer and saves space in my makeup bag by doubling up as my highlight, result!

MAC Impassioned Lipstick – This is a gorgeous warm toned fuchsia, I love bold lip shades in general but Impassioned is definitely my favourite summer bright lipstick. I pair this with Fleur Power blush and a neutral eye with a touch of mascara and my usual cat flick for an easy to achieve, feminine look. It is an amplified finish which of course means that the colour payoff is amazing and it lasts for hours.

Topshop Nails Daydream – If I’m feeling a pink nail, this is the colour I’m most likely to reach for. It’s bright, but not in an obvious sort of way. It’s not the brightest in my collection by a long shot, but the reason I love it so much is because it's a gorgeous flamingo pink (one of my favourite colours) that is easy to wear; it’s not an ‘in your face’ colour but yet it catches the eye at the same time. It’s a beautiful shade for summer time and I just love it.

Essie Limo Scene – This is more of a white based nude, however it does have the slightest hint of pink. If you’re a regular visitor to my Youtube Channel you will know that this is my absolute favourite nail colour of the moment. It’s such a natural shade and is one of those that makes your nails look freshly manicured whenever you’re wearing it. A newly added staple in my collection.

So there we have it, the pink products that have made it to the very top of my beauty bag! Every girl needs a bit of our signature colour in her life, right?!

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My MAC Empties - Back to MAC!



In case any of you lovelies aren’t filled in about MAC’s 'Back to MAC' programme, basically it’s a fantastic way of receiving something back for your money while being environmentally friendly. By returning six MAC packaging containers, you are entitled to a free lipstick of your choice (excluding Viva Glam lipsticks for which all proceeds go to the MAC aids fund) and MAC will dispose of said packaging in an ethical way. Pretty good eh?!

So here are my empty (ish – more on that later!) containers that I’m taking back tomorrow, but before I part with them I thought I would show you which products I’ve made my way through. First is my beloved Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NC35, as you can see I have scraped the very last morsels of this product out of the jar and the time has come to remove the reusable pump, pop its original lid back on (I don’t think this is a necessity) and repurchase this baby. You can read my review of this foundation as well as how it compares to MAC’s Studio Sculpt Foundation here. All I will say is, it’s love!

 Next we have two eyeshadows. The one that is completely empty is Satin Taupe, which is such a beautiful and versatile colour, in some lighting it looks brownish grey on the lid while in others it has a purple tinge to it, I love this as it is smoky however still natural enough to wear all over the lid during the day. It’s also a lovely one to wear in the crease to add some depth to the eye. The other pot of eyeshadow you can see (the one with the lid closed) is Blackberry, this is a matte deep purple shade that my mum gave to me after it brought her out in a rash (she has extremely sensitive eyes). In a nutshell, I highly dislike this product as I found the colour payoff is terrible especially for such a dark shade. Usually MAC’s colour payoff is second to none and I highly rate their products for lasting ages, this one however has an extremely solid powder consistency and doesn’t adhere to a brush easily, so for that reason it’s bye bye Blackberry – you’re going back!

The red lipstick is Lady Bug and is nearly finished but not quite, so I’m going to empty the remains into a sample pot. This one is a sheer, deepish, yellow toned red and rather than swiping all over my lips I prefer to dab this product on lightly to create a natural healthy tint. The nude coloured lipstick is Myth and I bought this a few years back when ‘concealer lips’ were the in thing (why?!). Needless to say I don’t use this anymore but it did have its place in my heart at one time and is nearly all gone. As with Lady Bug I’m going to decant the rest of the product into a sample jar to use underneath other lipsticks to lighten them up a bit. I also like mixing this with a pink gloss to create a natural nude lip. Last up is the completely empty pink shade. This was my first MAC lipstick and indeed the first MAC product that I ever bought and I wore it on my first date with my boyfriend six years ago, yes – it’s been empty quite a while. This little beaut is Lovelorn and if it wasn’t so old I would have attempted to extract the remains of this as well (waste not, want not and all that!) It’s a pretty blue toned pink and is perfect for a pop of colour during the day.

This is my first lot of products that I’ve ever taken back to MAC, which is an ode to how bloomin’ long they last! I’ll be sure to share with you whichever lipstick it is that I end up choosing for my freebee, hmm decisions decisions!

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FOTD

Last weekend was my cousins baby shower, so I thought I would share the makeup that I wore for the special day with you. It was a daytime do at a hotel so I went for a made up yet simple look. Hope you enjoy!

Face –  Benefit Porefessional Primer

MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation - NC30

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - Shade 3 Medium

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural – Medium Dark

Bare Minerals Ready Bronzer – The High Dive

MAC Blush – Style

Mac Mineralize Skinfinish – Soft and Gentle

Eyes – MAC Paintpot – Painterly

MAC E/S – Arena (lid)

MAC E/S – Cork (crease)

MAC E/S – Handwritten (Brows)

Urban Decay E/S – Sin (highlight)

Avon Super Shock Gel Eyeliner – Black

Maybelline Rocket Mascara - Black

Lips – MAC Lip Liner – Stripdown

Mac Lipstick – Please Me

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My Everyday Makeup

So this post is about the makeup that I am currently wearing on a daily basis. This changes throughout the seasons and depending on what mood I’m in, however for summertime I am leaning towards accentuating my natural tan by using a bit of bronzer and neutral colours on my eyes. Rather than going for a peach or bronze blush like I normally do in summer, I’ve recently been loving a pink blush to add some healthy looking colour to my cheeks. I’ve been pairing this with a pink lip for a fresh faced look. These are the products that I’m using at the moment.

Face

MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation – NC30

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer – Shade 3 Medium

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural – Medium Dark

MAC Blush – Fleur Power

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish – Soft and Gentle

Eyes

MAC Custom Eyeshadow Quad:

Top Left - Arena (Lid)

Top Right - Cork (Crease)

Bottom Left – Woodwinked (Lid)

Bottom Right - Amber Lights (Lid)

Mac Eyeshadow – Handwritten (Crease & Brows)

No7 Beautiful Eyebrow Pencil – Brown/Black

Avon Super Shock Gel Eyeliner

No7 Exquisite Curl Mascara

Lips

MAC Lipliner – Stripdown

MAC Lipstick – Please Me

Elemis Loving Lips Quenching Lip Balm

I hope you enjoyed this post, I love looking at other peoples everyday makeup favourites and so I thought I’d share mine too!

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