My Top 5 Nude Lipsticks!

Hi!

 

I'm not really a "lip" person when it comes to makeup...I prefer to spend more time on my eyes!

Saying that though I am a big fan of nude lipsticks as I don't feel that bright lips suit me particularly well...having fair skin, blue eyes and blonde hair it's hard for me to pull off a lot of colour on my face.

 

 

I've compiled a list of my favourite nude lipsticks!

These aren't in any order, just my top 5 and I'll have swatches further down :)

 

1) Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in 700 Nude Delight

 

 

I absolutely love this, it's the most beautiful peachy nude colour and it's not drying on the lips. I think this is probably my most used lipstick as it's great to throw on everyday!

 

2) Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Caramel

 

 

This can look a little frosty if you pile it on but as long as you put on a light layer this is well moisturising and looks really pretty!

 

3) 17 Supreme Shine Lipstick in Bella

 

 

The photo is making this look like a dark brown...(this weather is so bad recently and it makes lighting awful) but really this is a great matte nude colour!

 

4) Urban Decay Lipstick in Midnight Cowboy

 

 

It's a real shame that I only have a mini version of this as it's so pretty! It's the lightest nude here but it's got a sparkle too it that isn't obnoxious or really noticeable. It's also the most moisturising lipstick I have.

 

5) Sleek True Colour Sheen Lipstick in 785 Naked

 

 

This is quite brown and it's very opaque so I have to be careful not to apply too much of this but if I just put on a light layer it looks so pretty! This would also work so well with darker skin tones too where you could put on a thicker layer.

 

Here are some swatches!

 

 

Left to right:

 

Rimmel London, Natural Collection, 17, Urban Decay, Sleek.

 

 

So there you go! There are my favourite nude lipsticks...I love having nude lipsticks and plan to collect a lot more so one day maybe I'll update this list if I ever find another one that I love!

 

Have you tried any of these lipsticks?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

 

Expensive Products Worth The Money!

Hi!

 

My post today is all about the high end or expensive products that I think are worth the price...

There are of course expensive products that don't deserve the high price tag but every now and then something comes along which is a must-have product!

 

 

Here's a run down of my favourites!

 

 

1) MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20

 

I've mentioned this before a few times...amazing pigmentation & coverage, covers any blemishes I have within seconds and lasts well too because you get a lot of product for your money!

This is around £15 but I think it's worth it.,

 

2) MAC Select Cover Up Concealer

 

I've rediscovered this recently and remembered how much I love it!

Such high coverage for a liquid concealer and because it's fairly thin, I can use it on my under eye veins and it doesn't cake up!

Again this is £15.

The prices for MAC have gone up slightly...this used to be £14.50.... Never mind I still love it!

 

 

For some reason no matter what I do I can't seem to get this the right way round....

I hate technology.

 

Anyway.

 

3) Benefit High Beam

 

This is one of those famous classic products that a lot of people seem to have...and I can see why.

I don't actually have a full size of this but honestly when I run out of the many mini versions I have of this I think I might bite the bullet and get the full sized.

This is just the most beautiful pearly, pink highlight colour which adds a lovely glow to the cheekbones.

 

 

4) Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner

 

I've mentioned these a few times now and I have a review HERE if you're interested.

 

I got these for £14 each and they are SO worth it.

I have the colours Peacock and Bluefin and the colours are simply stunning.

And best of all, these have incredible staying power and I trust these to last all day on my lashline.

I must get some more of these at some point.

 

 

 

 

 

5) Urban Decay Palettes. (Naked & Book Of Shadows III)

 

Time for a little UD I think.

I love these palettes. Not only are the shadows great quality and beautiful colours, even though the palettes are expensive you get a lot for your money.

Often UD puts in full sized eye shadows (or nearly full sized) and they sometimes include things like brushes, primers or lip products.

These are just great and well worth paying such a high price for.

 

 

 

And finally...

 

6) Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencils

 

 

I have three of these (Zero, Ransom and Electric) and I've done a review HERE if you're interested.

These cost £14 but are really great.

The formula of these is so creamy and easy to blend and the colours are bright and vibrant...

I think if you're paying that kind of price you deserve a liner that is multifunctional and these are, you can use them on the waterlines, top lashline or as a base for other shadows.

 

 

 

PHEW.
That was a long post.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my post!

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

5 Different Looks With The UD Naked Palette!

Hi!
 

When the Naked palette came out from Urban Decay, I told myself I wasn't going to buy it. I told myself it was too expensive just for eye shadows. I did manage to hold off buying it for a long time until I found myself reading reviews and seeing swatches and...well...I caved.

 

And I'm very glad I did!

 

Now I have my palette (along with a large percentage of the population) I decided that I had to promise to myself to get good use out of it, something that I feel I have achieved!

Although I am aware that it can be a little tricky working out really different looks that can be created using this, so I thought I'd compile a little list of 5 different looks to hopefully inspire some people!

 

 

 

 

Look how pretty! :)

 

Here's a really quick run down of the colours for reference:

 

Virgin: Soft, satin finished cream

Sin: Shimmery champagne

Naked: Matte light/mid brown

Sidecar: Cool toned light brown with shimmer & some small glitter

Buck: Matte mid brown

Half Baked: Shimmery, intense gold

Smog: Shimmery deep bronze

Darkhorse: Darker brown colour with some gold flecks

Toasted: Dusty pink/rose wit some shimmer

Hustle: Cool taupe colour with some shimmer & hints of purple

Creep: Black base colour with gold sparkle

Gunmetal: Blue toned deep silver

 

 

Just thought I'd quickly mention a couple of my favourite shades: Virgin is my favourite highlight colour ever and the only shade here I've hit pan on. Half Baked is simply beautiful. Smog works great with my blue eyes. Sin makes a pretty, simple light everyday look.

 

Ok, onto the looks!

 

 

Look 1: Soft & Smudged

 

 

 

 

For this look after putting on a primer and NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in milk on my very inner corner (I have a lot of darkness & veins around my eyes) I used the colour Sin on the inner half of my lid and Toasted on the outer half.

I lined my top lash line with the Urban Decay 247 liner in Zero and topped that with the shadow Creep.

I took a pencil brush and blended this out until it looked really soft and smudged.

I blended Virgin under the brow bone and inner corner and finally as a finishing touch I added a tiny bit of the colour Half Baked on the lower lash line, just near the inner corner for just a pop of gold :)

 

Look 2: Sultry & Smoked

 

 

 

For this one I wanted to make the look a little more smokey!

I primed my lids and added the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk again to the inner corner.

I then used Sidecar on the inner half of the lid and then Creep to the outer half of the lid and then blended it to make it smokier.

This time when I did this, I blended out the Creep shade quite a lot but you could easily pack more onto the lid for a really intense look to make it darker!

I also smudged a bit of Sin just on the inner half but on the lower lashline.

I blended Virgin as my highlight on the inner corner and below the brow bone.

Then I used the UD 24/7 liner in Zero on the bottom water line and added mascara!

 

Look 3: Beautiful & Bronzed

 

 

 

*Sigh*

It is SO hard to get these colours to show up as vibrant on camera as they are in real life.

This is one of my favourite looks to do with this palette...Definitely one of my go-to looks!

I really love doing bronze/gold smokey eyes!

I primed my lids...added NYX pencil...etc. See above for details ;)

I used the colour Sin just on the very inner third but then used Half Baked for most of the middle third of the lid, blending into the Sin shade.

I then packed the colour Smog on the outer half of the lid....I think this colour works really well with the blue in my eyes!

I then added a small amount of Darkhorse to the crease and blended this out.

I once again used Virgin as a highlight.

I lined my bottom lash line with the 24/7 liner in Zero and then also decided to add some winged liner for something a little different. I used the Soap & Glory Super Cat liquid liner and then finished with mascara!

 

 

Look 4: Dark & Dramatic

 

 

For this look I wanted to create something quite dramatic!

After priming etc I first applied Gunmetal all over the lid and then used the 24/7 liner in zero to create the shape around the outer v, sort of like a cat eye shape. I then filled this in with the liner and then topped it with the Creep shadow.

I blended out the crease a lot to make it smoked and then used the colour Sin on the very inner corner and on the inner corner of the lower lash line.

I lined my waterline with the 24/7 liner and used Virgin as a highlight.

And then I finished with mascara!

I think it's really useful how even though most of the colours in the palette are neutral you can still create something really dramatic and smokey!

 

Look 5: Simple & Safe

 

 

I decided to include this look because it just emphasises what this palette is great at, just producing really simple and safe looks that still look pretty.

For this look after priming I used Sin all over the lid, but in all honesty you could use most of the shades in the palette all over the lid. Some of my favourites for a one shadow look are Sin, Sidecar, Virgin, Toasted and Hustle.

I then just used Virgin as a highlight and added mascara!

I think this palette makes doing these looks so easy and this look is great for when you only have about 5 minutes to do your makeup! :)

 

 

Wow. That's a long post!

I realise that there are 2 shades that I neglect in this palette, Naked and Buck. I think this is just because they are not shades that I would normally use. They are matte for a start (I'm such a sucker for shimmery shadows) and also being very fair skinned they are too dark for me to use as a blending colour. Because of this, they don't get used a lot and so weren't really used much in my looks here either. However every single other shade of this palette I DO get good use out of! :)

I hope some people found this useful, it definitely took a while together but I do think that this is a versatile palette and because I've gotten so much use out of it I think it's worth the price.

I think generally it's one of those palettes that I reach for when I'm being lazy because you can just pick out a random combination of shadows and it will pretty much always turn into a pretty look.

One that I just remembered that I love doing is having Smog all over the lid and Creep in the crease, these two blend so beautifully together!

 

So even though the shadows are all neutral (ish) you can still create quite a lot of different looks!

 

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

 

*REVIEW* Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencils (Zero, Electric & Ransom)

Hi!

 

Apologies for the slight delays in blog posts recently, been working on a 5 different looks post for the famous UD Naked palette and its taken quite a while! I originally thought I'd have that one next up but I thought I'd just write this review for you now as I have the pictures ready :)

 

Today I'm reviewing the 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencils from Urban Decay, one of my favourite brands!

They're products are pretty expensive, but I know that they don't test on animals and also their products are pretty amazing!

 

 

I have three of these at the moment, I have the shades:

 

Zero: Matte, opaque black

Electric: Bright...er..."electric" blue ;)

Ransom: purple with a hint of blue tones reflecting back

 

I did at a time have another Zero but a mini one...UD tends to give them with palettes quite often.

Electric was bought separately and the Zero and Ransom were with the Book Of Shadows III...which I adore by the way!

 

In the UK these retail for £14 each however it is a lot better for your purse if you buy palettes from them because they often have these thrown in, and combined with the price of the shadows, even though their palettes are expensive its pretty good for the amount you're getting.

 

UD used to be sold in Boots but isn't anymore which is disappointing :(

I now get my products from them usually online at Debenhams but you can also find their shop online or in other department stores.

 

Swatches:

 

 

 

From left to right:

 

Electric, Ransom and Zero.

 

 

There's no other way of saying this, I really love these!

The formula means that like the name they really do "glide on" and they can be used as a base too.

I personally like to set these if I'm using them all over the lid simply because they are very creamy and so could possibly fade or crease if you used them all over the lids.

These also work pretty well on the waterlines too but my favourite use for these is for using them as a base.

If you top them with shadow, it will enhance the colour payoff and longevity of your shadows and they won't crease.

 

Zero is perfect for creating that smokey eye because it just blends so easily!

 

Electric is beautiful on the bottom waterline for a pop of colour and its so bright and vibrant! Definitely my favourite!

 

Although you may not see in the swatch, Ransom is slightly less pigmented than the others which means that it requires you to go over it a couple of times to get a really good solid colour like the others. Nevertheless it is still beautiful once it's on and again, works great on the bottom waterline for a fun pop of colour!

 

Packaging:

 

The packaging is pretty good because in my drawer I can clearly see (even amongst all the other liners in there) what colours they are which is very useful!

However one thing I'm not so fond of is that these liners tend to break fairly easily. I'm not sure what it is but Electric in particular often has a broken tip when I take the lid off, just something about these isn't sturdy at all but its hard to put my finger on it.

Also they get blunt quickly because they are creamy so you have to sharpen them often, meaning that you can lose some product. Mine are all pretty short now comparing with how they were originally!

 

All in all I really like these!

The only disadvantages I can think of are the price and the fact that they break easily.

But for the bright, bold colour I don't think you can complain too much really!

 

 

Thanks for reading! Have you tried these liners?

Libby x

Makeup Look: Quick & Classic Eye

Hi!

 

Today I have a makeup look to show you that I actually didn't wear myself.

 It was our school prom/ball the other week and my beautiful friend Nicole agreed that I could do her makeup for her....after me promising I wouldn't turn her into an orange weirdo with two black eyes ;)

 

I decided to use the Urban Decay Naked Palette for this look, and taking into account her dress colour I created this smokey look that is also still quite light and classic!

 

 

 

 

Here are the products I used:

 

 

Face:

 

Rimmel London Fix & Perfect Pro Primer

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse

E.L.F HD Powder

E.L.F Blush in Shy

E.L.F All Over Colour Stick in Spotlight

 

Eyes:

 

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin

Urban Decay Naked Palette (shades listed below)

17 Photo Flawless Eye Pencil in Copper

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero

 

 

I think the face speaks for itself: I wanted products that would last a while and look great all night!

I'm really loving the Rimmel primer and I especially think that the E.L.F HD Powder is great for photos! I also thought the E.L.F blush and highlight stick were great for adding a bit of colour to the face.

 

For the eyes I used the UD primer in Sin to keep the shadows lasting all night.

From the Naked palette I used the shade Toasted all over the lid and then added Hustle to the outer edge of the lid.

I then added Creep to the outer v to darken the edges.

I took a fluffy blending brush to dust the shade Virgin in the very inner corner and under the brow bone.

I then lined the top lash line with the 17 liner and then set that liner with Darkhorse from the UD palette.

I then lined the bottom lash line with the UD liner in Zero.

I then finished with mascara!

 

So there you go, thank you for reading!

I think this is a quick and easy look that although looks like it takes a lot of steps, it's very simple and hard to get wrong. I also think it looks very classic and not too dramatic!

 

Libby x

Makeup Look: Black & Gold Eye

Hi!

I've always adored the combination of gold and black together in an eye look - I think it looks smoky and dark  but also the pop of gold makes it look sophisticated yet interesting!

I saw a picture of a makeup look done by someone on the MakeupGeek site the other day in their "idea gallery" (MakeupGeek is absolutely amazing by the way! Marlena does videos on youtube which are great but also their site is really useful and I always find inspiration from their idea gallery) and decided I had to try and recreate a similar look!

By the way the site is http://www.makeupgeek.com/  if you're interested - I'd definitely recommend having a look around there are reviews, swatches and different makeup looks on there...I swear I'm not paid by them or anything, I just love the site! :)

 

Anyway, on to the look!

 

 

 

 

This look is quite dramatic and it does take a little bit of time and blending to get it looking finished and to make sure it looks smoky without looking messy, but in my opinion its worth it!

I am by no means an amazing makeup artist, but overall I'm pleased with the finished look!

 

I also was looking for a chance to use one of my E.L.F Pigment Eye shadow that I picked up a few weeks ago - I've been waiting for the perfect look to use one for!

 

Here are the products I used:

 

Urban Decay Primer Potion - Original

(I often use the E.L.F eyelid primer but I decided since the look was so dark I would use the best primer I have to avoid things going wrong)

Stila Fibre Optics Mascara

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Liner in Zero

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean

NYX Single Eye shadow in Midnight

E.L.F Pigment Eye shadow in Golden Goddess

120 Pro Palette (I will highlight the individual shades below)

 

 

First of all I applied the primer, then used a small stiff brush to use the NYX pencil in Black Bean and created the shape I wanted with this and filled it in to act as a dark base. I left a space on the centre of the lid for the gold shadow.

I went over this with the NYX shadow in Midnight and blended this out with the brown and cream shades in the 120 palette shown above.

I used the NYX shadow because instead of just being plain black it has small amounts of gold and silver glitter in it which I think works better with the gold on the centre of the lid.

I used the NYX pencil in Milk dotted under the brow bone and on the inner corner and added the white from the 120 palette to go over these to highlight the inner corner and the brow bone. This also helped blend out the black that I had on the lid.

I used a small bit of the matte black from the  120 palette to darken the "outer v" of the eye slightly.

I added a small amount of the NYX pencil in Milk to the empty space that I left on the ball of my lid. I then used a stiff brush to pat on the E.L.F pigment in Golden Goddess onto the lid and blended it slightly by patting.

I lined the water lines with the UD liner and added mascara. I also smudged some black shadow beneath the lash line.

 

 

Phew! Basically this look takes a lot of blending, but I think it's work it as the final result is really pretty. I love the way the NYX shadow works with the E.L.F pigment and I think the pigment itself is really pretty.

 I'll do a review on the E.L.F pigments that I have soon!

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the look!
Libby x