The Body Shop Colour Crush Lipsticks

I am all about the lipsticks and so whenever a new range or a new collection comes about, I can't wait to get swatching and see what they have to offer. Admittedly, up until now I have never tried a Body Shop lipstick, but when they launched their new Colour Crush range, I couldn't wait to get my hands on some of their lovely looking shades.

The range is made up of three colour families, overall consisting of 24 vibrant shades covering the Nude, Red and Pink spectrum, which for me, is absolutely perfect. 

105* and 110* are probably my favourites out of the six I have swatched above and each offer the most incredible creamy pigmentation in just one sweep, followed by 315* which is a perfect day to day shade. My least favourite is probably 220*, which on the lips was a lot lighter than I expected it to be and is unfortunately too pale for my skin tone.

Made up of high quality crushed pigments, Cherry seed oil and Marula oil, The Body Shops Colour Crush lipsticks feel really comfortable on the lips and stay feeling fresh for a fair while before any need of attention and is a formula that I wish more lipsticks would carry.

Priced at £10 each, I think they come with a really fair price point; a little more than a typical drug store product, but the quality and lower price point of a high end lipstick which is fabulous. 

Having tried only six of these Colour Crush wonders, I think it's fair to say that I'll be looking into the 18 other shades, in particular the rest of the Pink and Nude tones.

The Body Shop Colour Crush lipsticks are available to buy on the Body Shop online store where there's always amazing deals, as well as in stores now.

Do any of these shades stand out to you? Will you be visiting your local Body Shop to see your favourite Colour Crush?

Read more

Bourjois Colour Boosts- Orange Punch & Peach on the Beach

Bourjois are continuously impressing me and I would go as far as to say they have been one of my favourite brands this year and over the past couple of months now I have been absolutely obsessed with two shades from their new Colour Boost range. 

Orange Punch* and Peach On The Beach* are two of the four shades in the current Colour Boost range (I've heard theres some Autumn shades on the horizon) and I honestly can't get enough of them. Its taken me a while to get a blog post put together because I've been struggling to get the right lighting to show of the true shades, and finally I have managed to. Insanely pigmented and creamy, Bourjois Colour Boosts offer the lips incredible hydration like a balm and feel really lovely and fresh on the lips for hours. They come in the crayon like form that we are seeing so many of, but these are hands down my favourites, especially when it comes to shades. 

Offering SPF15 and claiming to last up to ten hours, Bourjois have put together a really lovely formula that is so easily applied and looks lovely and glossy on the lips. 

Peach On The Beach 03 is probably my favourite of the two and is a bright Pink Peach shade and perfect for Summer days. Orange Punch 04 is equally as beautiful and is similar in terms of brightness, but offers a true Orange tone. Both can be applied quite light and dabbed out to a more subtle shade, or built up to quite a heavy intensity too, which I personally like.

My only problem that I have had, is that Peach On The Beach melted a fair bit when it was left out in the sun at a festival, so I would just recommend that you do keep these out of direct sunlight if you're taking them on holiday this Summer.

I'm such a huge fan of these two Bourjois Colour Boosts and definitely will be investing in the other two in the range; Red Sunrise and Fuschia Libra. 

Available to buy now in Selfridges, Boots and Superdrug these Colour Boost Crayons cost £7.99 each.

Have you tried any of the Bourjois Colour Boosts? What's your favourite shade? 

Read more

Autograph Ultra Shine Twist-Up Lip Colour- Strawberry

Recently, especially for at work, I've found myself filling my make up bag with more and more moisturising, balmy lip colours and one of my newest additions has been the perfect shade for a perfect Red pout and comes in the form of Marks & Spencers Autograph Ultra Shine Twist-Up Lip Colour in Strawberry*.

Very similar to most of my other moisturising, balmy colours I have been using a lot of recently, this comes a crayon form offering the handy twist up function which I really like. 

It's an incredibly pigmented true Red shade which gives amazing opacity on the lips with just one sweep. The colour really surprised me as I thought with being balm, glossy lipstick would be a lot more sheer and certainly not as Red as it is. 

On the lips it feels incredibly light and moisturising, leaving my lips feeling super soft and comfortable. I don't find myself worrying as much as I sometimes do with Red lipsticks, as more often than not, when I check in the mirror for a potential top up moment, the colours still looking perfectly fresh. Bleeding and feathering isn't too much of a problem, although just like most Reds, the more you apply throughout the day, the more likely it is to happen. If you wanted to wear a lip pencil with it then I probably would recommend it but I personally don't, as these three in one type products are used more often that not for me, as a convenience lip product.

I'm really impressed with the formula and pigmentation of this Ultra Shine Twist-Up Lip Colour and although Marks & Spencers isn't a brand I wouldn't normally consider as a port of call for make up, I'm definitely going to have a little browse next time I'm in there stocking up on underwear and tasty snacks. 

Available in eight different shades, Autograph Ultra Shine Twist-Up Lip Colours are available to buy online and in Marks & Spencers and cost £9.50 each.  

Have you tried any Autograph make up? Does this Strawberry Ultra Shine Lip Colour look like something you would enjoy using?

Read more

Susan Posnick ColourEssential Lipstick in LA

A perfectly Pink lipstick that I have recently been introduced to is this Susan Posnick ColourEssential Lipstick in the shade LA*. As a new addition to the range for Summer, LA sits amongst five other beautiful new shades and is the pretty Pink of the group.

On the lips, I find LA looks a lot more how I expected it to from the description, than it does in the bullet. Before trying it, I didn't think it would give the the pale, flirty Pink shade that it promises to, as it appears quite dark and almost marbled, but once applied onto the lips it's a truly lovely shade that carries both Gold and Silver through it, creating a lovely sheen. I'm not usually a fan of sheer lipsticks or those that carry any shimmer, but I find this looks really pretty on the lips and carries a nice amount of pigment.

Formulated with Olive Oil as well as rehydrating antioxidants and Vitamins A and E, the formula of the lipstick feels super moisturising on the lips and stays put, looking fresh for a really long time. The shade supposedly adapts to different lip colours, and I'm pretty pleased with how looks on me. I tend to build up the colour as much as possible, creating as much opacity as possible, but even though it is pretty sheer and out of my usual comfort zone, I'm really pleased.

These compact and magnetised Susan Posnick ColourEssential Lipsticks cost £18.50 and are available to buy online in fifteen shades, including the new Summer Corals, Nudes, Reds and Berrys. 

What do you think of this lipstick? Do you like sheer baby Pink shades?

Read more

No7 Stay Perfect in Gay Geranium

No7 Gay Geranium, MAC Watch Me Simmer, MAC Vegas Volt, MAC Morange

As of lately, I have been really impressed with No7 products, especially their lip ranges which seem to be continuously growing and following trends. Some really lovely dupes of higher end products seem to be popping up all the time and I personally can't get enough, especially of No7 Stay Perfect in Gay Geranium* which was picked out for me at the Boots Lets Give It A Go event and in all honestly, has very quickly made it's way to one of my most loved lipsticks.

On my initial swatch, this product immediately stood out to me to be similar to something that a MAC Amplified lipstick would be; creamy, super bright pigmentation, easy to apply and opaque. It reminded me of the MAC Watch Me Simmer, Vegas Volt and Morange family, which is why I thought I would include a swatch of all four. If you're into that kind of tone like I am, especially through the summer, its beautiful Orange Red tone will be absolutely perfect when the sun is beaming and I can't recommend No7 Gay Geranium enough. 

Unlike MAC Amplified lipsticks, I do have to wear this over a balm as on its own it is a little too heavy and drying, which does sadden me a little. The colour seems to be a lot more vibrant applied on its own, which is how I would ideally wear it, but applied with a balm underneath it is still very lovely. 

The pigmentation of this lipstick is pretty insane; the tiniest amount goes a very long way and is completely opaque which I love. I imagine it could actually be a little troublesome and messy if you go in to apply without knowing how pigmented it actually is. In terms of how long this lasts on the lips, as I said, worn alone I found it pretty drying so it needed a fair bit of attention, but with a balm it stays put a reasonable few hours without need of a touch up and continues to look nice and vibrant.

A little history surrounding this product that I found pretty interesting, is that when Boots was relaunched after WWII, Gay Geranium was launched into their Fifties Collection and is the only product that still exists in their line, similar to the story behind Revlons Fire & Ice, which is actually pretty similar in tone too. The Queen has also been known to be a fan of both No7 and specifically Gay Geranium, and quite frankly, if it's good enough for a royal..

No7 Stay Perfect in Gay Geranium costs £9.50 and is available online and at No7 Counters in Boots.

What do you think of this shade? Is a bright, vibrant and super pigmented lipstick something you enjoy to wear?

Read more

Laura Mericer Créme Smooth Lip Colour- Fresh Raspberry

As much as I love Pink lipsticks and within reason am pretty open to all colours on the spectrum, darker Raspberry tones are probably one of the least commonly worn for me. I don't feel super confident that they suit me and although I'm all for a bright Orange or the occasional Barbie Pink, the thought of a brighter bold Raspberry or Purple toned lipstick tends to put me slightly out of my comfort zone. Being the lipstick hoarder that I am, this hasn't stopped me from acquiring a fair few and although I do wear them on occasion, I don't think I've ever found a lipstick described as a Mauve that I have loved as much as this Laura Mercier Créme Smooth Lip Colour in Fresh Raspberry*.

It's described as a Bright Clean Mauve and although in the tube, just like how I found Palm Beach looked slightly different to how it appeared on the lips, it looks ever so slightly darker and not as bright as it looks on. It's very beautiful and creamy and although I do still think that like most of my Hot Pink shades it is certainly one for my more daring days, I think it will be a lovely night time shade throughout the Summer and can see some of my darker haired friends absolutely loving it. 

It's super opaque and one sweep provides the most pigmented coverage which makes it really easy to use and in terms of staying power, it stays fresher looking and a lot nicer on my lips for longer than Palm Beach and Mango. Laura Mercier Créme Smooth Lip Colours are all super creamy and include Vitamin E and Pure Olive Oil in amongst the ingredients to keep lips from feeling dry and insuring they are nourished. 

Fresh Raspberry is one of fourteen new Spring shades for Laura Mercier and I definitely think they're worth a look at if like me, you can't resist a lipstick. 

Laura Mericer Créme Smooth Lip Colours cost £20.50 and are available to buy now online and at Laura Mercier counters in Selfridges, Space NK, House of Fraser and Liberty.

What do you think of this shade? Is a darker, brighter Raspberry Mauve shade a colour you would wear?

Read more