Look Beauty Lip Liner in Tangerine Cream

 I love a Coral Peachy Pink toned lipstick, but unfortunately I find it incredibly hard to find a suitable lip liner to match the majority of the shades that I own.
Fortunately, I don't really rely on a lip liner too much, unless I'm wearing a Red lip, so it doesn't matter too much, but it is nice to have a suitable match within my collection, just incase. 

When I was browsing the aisles of Superdrug recently, I came across this Look Beauty Lip Liner in Tangerine Cream and whilst I was very pleasantly surprised with their whole range of shades, this one stood out to me and I added it into my basket without any hesitation.

The shade actually reminds me very much of Topshop Coy, which is one of my favourites. A bright, fresh Peachy Pink tone that I personally find really complimentary with my skin tone.

 This is a lip liner and therefore isn't meant to be worn alone all over the lips (Tangerine Cream is also available in a lipstick), but I think paired with a similar shade of lipstick or even underneath a balm it is really pretty. As you can see from the swatch above, worn alone, it really is just too dry and feels incredibly uncomfortable on the lips but I do think dabbed out with a bit of gloss or lipstick it is very lovely.

Another from the range that I want to get my hands on is Toffee Cup. I remember it being a lovely Nude and very similar to MAC In Synch, but it seems to be sold out in all Superdrug stores that I have tried.

I picked up this little wonder on special offer for £2, but regularly this costs £4 and is available online and in Superdrug. 

What do you think of Look Beauty? Do you often find it hard to find pretty shades of lip liners?

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Sisley Express Flower Gel

I first became aware of this face mask when researching into products that would be great for my skin and would sit underneath my make up well, for flights at work. Lisa Eldridge mentioned it in her Long Haul Beauty Regime video last year and since hearing of it then, it seems to have popped up on my radar quite often.

This Sisley Express Flower Gel* is essentially a gel-like face mask that works to hydrate, tone and firm skin pretty beautifully in an extremely quick time. Applied before my make up, it absorbs into my skin within just a couple of minutes, leaving a perfectly firm, soft and hydrated base to work on.

It really does settle into my skin in a super speedy time and although in the directions it does say to blot to absorb any excess product after three minutes, I personally don't find I am left with much at all, if any by that time.

It's said to be a favourite amongst make up artists throughout Fashion Week, as it's a great quick prep to use on their models skin before make up application and I can believe it. I've been applying this to my skin on days when my skin needs that little bit of a boost and it does a great job at hydrating my skin and leaves it feeling super soft on days both with and without make up.

When I go back to flying everyday in the Summer months, I already know that this is going to be an essential for me, because on days where I am waking up at possibly 3am, I really don't want to be faffing about with a timely skincare regime. Absorbing so quickly and giving my skin the essential hydrating qualities it needs for a long flight, even underneath my make up, it will be a dream and with the Flower Gel working to get rid of any signs of fatigue and stress, it will see me perfectly for an average day in the sky.

At £74.50 for this 60ml bottle, this Sisley Face Mask isn't the most affordable product on the market, but I am completely sold on it. However, as much as I want to reach for it all the time at the moment, I may pop it to the back of my stash for now, until I go back to work. 

This Sisley Express Flower Gel is available at Space NK, Selfridges, Liberty and John Lewis.

Does this quick absorbing, hydrating face mask appeal to you? 

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Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupté Peach Passion

Over the past couple weeks I have introduced a fair few lipsticks into my collection, but one I have lusted after for quite a while is this Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupté in Peach Passion, which I am so pleased to have finally purchased.

 Rouge Volupté lipsticks offer incredible pigmentation and apply to the lips like a dream. They are super creamy and just one sweep of colour gives amazing results. The finish is so soft on the lips and although the colour doesn't stick around for as long as I wish it would, that is the only problem I have with it, though the intense Peach shade completely makes up for this and I have no problem reapplying it throughout the day.

Both the smell and the taste of the lipstick are quite prominent and sweet but it's again, something I really love about this product. 

The formula isn't at all drying and even when the shade had faded, my lips still feel super soft and moisturised.

Something I have to touch on, is the absolutely beautiful packaging. I own a couple of other YSL Rouge Volupté lipsticks and I think the tubes are just so stunning. The mirrored Gold casing with the YSL detail looks so luxurious and I love taking this eye-catching beauty out of my make up bag to apply. 

YSL Rouge Volupté Lipsticks cost £23.50 and are available on Yves Saint Laurent Beauty and all YSL counters in Boots, Debenhams, House of Fraser, John Lewis and Selfridges.

My only problem is the short length of time the colour stays on the lips, I would love to know your thoughts on this, what I think is such an amazing lipstick.

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Embryolisse Lait-Créme Concentré

Embryolisse was another of the products on my Paris shopping list and with it previously being recommended to me by the very lovely Pixiwoo girls for my skin, I decided that I must have it and I have been using it on and off since November time.

As you can see, I started using it before I got the chance to take a photo of it, which is the ultimate beauty blogger fail for me. I was super annoyed at myself and even contemplated not blogging about it because of this, but for those of you that may be interested in this moisturiser, I thought I would share my two cents on what was described to me by the French Phamacist, "the cream of the stars".

I think I was expecting some kind of moisturising miracle when I popped on my french accent to buy this behind the counter moisturiser, but unfortunately I'm really not completely sold on it. It is nice to use and applied on make up free days or in the evening it sinks in beautifully and leaves my skin feeling super moisturised and soft but I just don't love it as an everyday moisturiser, which is what I was primarily hoping I would benefit from. Underneath my make up, granted it does leave a very smooth base to work on but although it is quite a light consistency that sinks in nicely, but I tend to find I can still feel it and it almost makes my make up feel a little tacky? Despite its light appearance, Embryolisse is a rich nourishing cream which is made up of Emollient Oil, Shea Butter,  Beeswax and Aloe Vera.

I'm not sure this would be on my must have French pharmacy list again and although it is very nice plastered on of an evening for a nourishing treat, I'm not sure it was worth my frantic rush to find it and the €18 price tag.

Embryolisse is a massively raved about product in the beauty industry and although I'm not the biggest fan, I would absolutely love to know your thoughts on it?

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Nivea Stress Protect Baking Challenge

I'm sure you're wondering what link deodorant and cake have with each other and to be honest so was I when Nivea got in touch and challenged me to bake this delicious recipe all in the name of testing a deodorant. 

Nivea wanted to challenge me with something that would cause me a little bit of stress to test their new Stress Protect Deodorant* and if you know me, then you'll know that putting me in a kitchen will pretty much do that straight away, even before the tricky instructions from Holly Bells (Great British Bake-off) White Chocolate, Lemon and Macadamia Genoise Layer Cake recipe and hours of mixing (really!).

Sweat effects everyone and is most commonly caused by heat, but a trigger very close to that is in fact stress which is supposedly very different to the other triggers. Setting upon your underarms more rapidly and apparently smelling much worse, it is a lot more apparent and of course, harder to control.

When I read sweat and cake paired together, instantly a vile picture was put into my head, one very similar to that scene in Matilda and it didn't sound appealing in the slightest, but when I was told of Niveas new unique formula that includes Stress Protect Actives, a Zinc Complex and added Avocado Oil to help to minimise stress sweat by up to 85% and leave you feeling moisturised, I did feel a little more at ease with the situation so made my way to the supermarket to pick up all of the ingredients.

Though I must admit I was a little grossed out, I did go into this challenge feeling pretty confident, but when I realised there was so many components to this cake I kind of questioned what I had got myself into. Holly Bell really did put together a challenging recipe and to give you an idea of what it consisted of here were the steps I had to undergo; make the Mousse, bake a Genoise Sponge, whisk for what seemed an eternity, make some Lemon Syrup and Praline, wash up a good few times, separate the Sponge into four slices, assemble the four slices back together again with the Mousse and Syrup, break the Praline up into small pieces and then cover the entire cake with the remaining Mousse and Praline to finish. Phew!    

With my best friend thankfully on hand to help a little, three mixers on the go, Flour and Egg all over the kitchen and two trips to the shop in the snow (to repurchase the ingredients after I messed it up the first time) it really wasn't the most pleasurable of experiences and after an intense and very stressful four hours of baking, my White Chocolate, Lemon and Macadamia Genoise Layer Cake was finally baked and it was time for the sniff test (really!). Thankfully, the Nivea Stress Protect Deodorant worked an absolute treat and I smelt and felt just as fresh as I did beforehand, making it perfectly okay for me to sit at the table with my family for a slice of what was the most delicious cake, if I can say so myself, and a much needed cup of tea.

Nivea Stress Protect Anti-Perspirant really did protect me beautifully and I think it's definitely one to use for those days where you're in stressful, nervous or pressurised situations.

Stress Protect is available now in Tesco, Boots and Superdrug in the form of 250ml/150ml Sprays-£2.29-£3.29, Sticks- £2.49 and Roll Ons- £2.03.

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*This is a sponsored post

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Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

Urban Decay is renowned for its Naked products and since the original Naked Palette came out back in   2011, it has become somewhat of a trend in terms of make up and so many, including me well and truly jumped on the bandwagon, especially when it came up to the follow up Naked 2 Palette.

Recently, Urban Decay have added a further Naked Palette into the collection; the Naked Basics Palette*, which differs from the others in that it only homes six neutral shades, five of which are matte.

The palette is supposed to provide you with the basics that you would need to create the perfect look and so for me, I think this is a great palette to have to really introduce me into having a fancy eye nicely and build up my neutral shades.

The shades included are Venus which is a frosted White shade and the only in the palette to have any shimmer in it, Foxy which is a Yellow toned Beige, Walk of Shame which is a Pink toned Beige, Naked 2 which is a very true medium Taupe, Faint which is a darker Brown shade and last but my no means least, Crave which is a true Black and the perfect addition if you're going for a full on smokey eye.
My favourite shades are probably Naked 2 and Faint as I find them the most complimentary and although the lighter matte shades are nice bases, I don't really find they do anything for me.
Venus is quite a little addition to the palette and although it stands out a little, being the only one to carry shimmer, it is perfect for under the brow or in the inner corner of the eye and so helps to make this a eyeshadow staple product by homing the essentials.

Foxy through to Crave are really very matte, which I do know sounds a little odd as realistically a products formula either is or isn't but these do seem super matted- possibly even a little chalky?

Though I am really pleased to have this handy mirrored palette in my collection as my original palette somehow ended up a permanent feature in my mums make up bag, I'm not sure it quite lived up to the hype as much as the previous ones did. The colours are super pigmented and will most definitely be used, which I suppose is the main point, but there seems to be a little something that isn't quite appealing to me.

This Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette costs £20 and is available to buy in Debenhams, Beauty Bay and HQHair.

What do you think of this palette? Did you jump on the Naked bandwagon like I did?


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Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipsticks

Beige Trench 02*

Peche Cosy 03*

Rose Tweed 04*

 Rose Coquette 06*

Fuchsia Graffiti 07*

Rose Studio 08*

Orange Pop-Up 09*

Rouge Buzz 10*

Fraise Remix 11*

 Rose Neon 12*

 Rose Millésime 17*

Violine Strass 18*

Last month I took part in a Get The Look challenge which I posted about here and had so many compliments on the lipstick which I was wearing. It was in actual fact Rouge Jet Set* from Bourjois new collection; The Rouge Edition and been a go-to Red lipstick for me since.

 When I was given the opportunity to try some other shades from The Rouge Edition, I was absolutely thrilled as the pigmentation and creamy, easy to apply formula are excellent.

The range consists of three colour families; Preppy (01-06) which is made up of six fresh Nude shades for a more natural subtle look, Colour Block (07-12) which is made up of six bright Pinks and Oranges for a more eye catching and daring look and Night Out (13-18) which is made up of six shades ranging from 13, which I wore in my video here and is a classic Red, to much darker intense tones and Plum shades. 

The Rouge Edition collection has 18 shades in total and with the variations of tones that run throughout it, has a range of shades to suit all skin tones and tastes. 

I'm really impressed with the colours that Bourjois have to offer and think for the price of £7.99 that these lipsticks cost, they are pretty reasonable and if you wanted to expand your lipstick collection, then a Bourjois counter is the perfect point of call.

These lipsticks are currently exclusive to Selfridges although they will be available nationwide as of February.

Do these Rouge Edition shades appeal to you? Whats your favourite shade?

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Clarins Rouge Eclat Age-Defying Lipsticks

 

Back in October, I posted about Clarins Limited Edition Odyssey Collection which quite frankly I couldn't get enough of and once again, Clarins have well and truly outdone themselves.  

Introduced with their SS13 collection, 15 shades of Clarins new Rouge Eclat Age-Deyfying Lipsticks will become apart of Clarins main cosmetics line, which is fantastic as they are such lovely products and will be a great addition to their counters.

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on three of the subtle Nudes in the collection; 01 Nude Rose*, 02 Sweet Rose* and 03 Petal Pink* and they are everything I could dream of. 

Though they are all absolutely lovely shades, I can't decide between Nude Rose and Sweet Rose in terms of which is my favourite. Nude Rose is a perfect Nude that has a dusky Pink, almost Lilac tone it which I love. It certainly applies more Pink than the natural lip colour that it appears in the tube, but is completely wearable and so pretty. 

Sweet Rose is a perfect everyday shade, adding quite a subtle amount of Pink to the lips making it perfect for adding a quick sweep of colour that isn't too overbearing and sits quite naturally on the lips.

I think it's also a shade that would quite easily suit a varied range of skin tones. 

Unlike Nude Rose, on the lips Sweet Rose and Petal Pink are very close to the colour they appear in the tube and Petal Pink is just as it looks; a deeper Pink shade which although I do like, I don't find as easy to wear as I do with the others. 

Clarins Rouge Eclat lipsticks are a lovely formula and apply nice and smoothly to the lips, they are also really buildable which is great as you can opt for a more subtle look with less product. 

On the lips, these lipsticks feel really soft and moisturising, however, like I often find with moisturising lipsticks, the colour doesn't stick around for as long as I would like. A couple of hours after applying and a reapplication is necessary, but thankfully, they do fade nicely on the lips without any sight of cracking like a drier lipstick would, which is a bonus.

These lipsticks are supposed to have a slight Blackberry and Liquorice scent and flavour, which doesn't really appeal to me in the slightest. Thankfully, I can only smell the slightest hint of Blackberry and the taste is barely there, which personally I'm pleased about.

Along with providing great colour and moisture to the lips, the ingredients of these age-defying lipsticks contains Nutri-Youth Complex, Vitamin E and 100% Plant Waxes, which are supposed to help boost collagen and protect the lips from free radicals and dehydration. 

These beautiful and sleek Gold packaged lipsticks cost £18.50 are available from Clarins counters in Boots, John Lewis, Debenhams and Selfridges.

Do you like the sound of these lipsticks? What's your favourite of the three?

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