My Top 5 Autumn/ Winter Lipsticks

Earlier in the year, I did a similar post writing about my top five summer lipsticks. However, those summer brights have been replaced with darker shades. I'm going to share my favourites with you.

1) Rimmel 107

I think everyone whose wrote a post similar to this one has included this lipstick. The Rimmel lispticks are my favourite highstreet ones and this shade is a cult classic. It's a deep wine red, completely matte but not at all drying on the lips.

2) Revlon - Black Cherry

I love this lipstick but it's not to everyones taste. It's a very dark purple/ brown colour that looks almost black on the lips. I like the formula of this lipstick as it feels quite moisturising.

3) Mac - Rebel

One of the first Mac lispticks I bought was Rebel and this is the perfect berry shade. I actually wear this on nights out a lot

4) Lime Crime Poisonberry

This is very similar to Rebel, however I'd say it's more purple that berry. I find that this lipstick can be slightly drying, but I apply it over lipbalm and I'm usually okay.

5) Rimmel Lasting Finish - Asia

I did a post on this lipstick a while back and it's very similar to Mac's Brave. This is my perfect nude as it's a pinky brown shade. This is perfect with a smokey eye.

What are your favourite winter lipsticks?

No 7 Beauty Advent Calendar// Day 1-12 Review

I really wanted a beauty advent calendar this year after finding out about them way too late last year. I was really torn between the Body Shop one and the No7 one. With Benefit, I found that most of the things I want to try, I already own through various kits. I decided on the No7 one as I thought there would be more chance of getting makeup- which I love- as opposed to bath stuff - which is okay but nothing to get excited about.

Day 1 - This calendar really started off with a bang. Whilst my friend text me to tell me that she got paper clips with her Benefit advent calendar, I text her back to her that I received a highlighter- but not of the stationary kind. I received a sample of the Skin Illuminator Radiance Boosting Beauty Fluid. I use this just on my cheek bones to create that festive glow, however some people like to use it all over, under their foundation. I was definately happy with this product and I think, although a sample, it will last ages.

Day 2 - I love a good lip product, so when I recieved this High Shine Lip Crayon in the shade Daydreamer, I again was very happy. The shade is very similar to my beloved Brave by Mac.

Day 3 - The next was a makeup brush - the Eye Colour brush. I like receiving makeup brushes but I just don't think this one is very good. It feels cheap and synthetic and I don't know what I would actually use it with.

Day 4 - I received some Youthful Eye Serum. I haven't used an eye serum before and you can use it under an eye cream so I'm excited to try this,

Day 5 - I actually love the colour of the polish that was behind day 5. I've already used it and I quite liked the formula so it's possible I would by more in the future. The shade is Highland Mist.

Day 6 - To be honest, I'm never that happy to receive mascaras, simply because I have so many. This one is okay and it gives a very natural lash look, but I wouldn't buy it again.

Day 7 - I don't often buy single eye shadows because I'd much rather buy a palette. These shadows are £7 on their own, so a nice treat. However, the shade isn't really festive or that unique for me to get excited about. It's a neutral grey/ taupe colour that I don't think I'll use very often as I have all the neutrals I need in my Naked palettes. I wasn't happy about how scratched up the packaging was either.

Day 8 - I got the Beautiful Skin Radiance Exfoliater. This is a perfect size to take travelling. I currently use a Soap & Glory exfoliator but it's a bit rough for me, so I'll happily try this to se if it's any better,

Day 9 - Protect and Perfect Intense Day Cream was nice in the calendar. My skin has gotten so dry lately, so I'm hoping the 'intense' is true and it will really hydrate my skin.

Day 10 - I got the Blissful body wash. I said earlier that bath stuff didn't excite me, but this smells so lovely, and again is perfect for travelling. I'm actually really excited to use this.

Day 11 - I got the Beautiful Skin Eye Makeup remover. I don't use eye makeup remover and tend to just use a micellar water. I tried this yesterday and wasn't impressed at all, but I'll give it another go, or at least til it's all gone. I think I'll get maybe a weeks use out of this.

Day 12 - This is the only thing I've received upto now that I've tried before. I liked the Stay Precise eye liner but found it dried up fast.

Upto now, I've been really happy with this advent calendar and I think it's been worth the £35. Did you get the No7 calendar? What do you think?

Festive Nails - Week 1 // Barrym Limited Edition Polishes

For the past five years I've always had essays or exams to revise for over Christmas, so it feels strange having all this free time on my hands without stressing over uni stuff. I love doing anything creative over Christmas, whether it's making decorations, baking or trying out new makeup looks, so I'm hoping to do a few festive inspired posts over the next few weeks.

My mum asked me to pop into Superdrug the other day, and I walked past these limited edition Barrym polishes in the shade Jingle Bells (gold with red flecks) and Christmas Tree (green with red flecks.) They were so pretty and festive, I couldn't leave them behind. They're priced £3.99 each, however there's currently an offer where if you spend £6 on Barry M products, you can get one of these nail paints free. 

I decided to paint these on top of Barry M's Coral which is a bright red, almost orange looking shade. I only used one coat of Coral but wished I used more; however I don't think it matters so much as the glitter covers most of polish. 

On alternate fingers, I used Sally Hansens Jet Set Jade, which is a gorgeous colour in it's own right. 

I can see myself getting a lot of use from these glitter polishes this Christmas.

Have you tried any festive inspired nail looks this Christmas yet?

(Also, sorry for the sad state of my nails. Working in retail means they are forever breaking!)

Soap & Glory Archery Brow Tint and Pencil // Review

I feel like I should post more reviews on this blog, but I like to use a product for months at a time to decide properly whether it's any good or not.

I picked up Soap & Glory's Archery Brow Tint and Pencil a few months ago in Meadowhall. It always seems to be out of stock in my local Boots, so I was glad when I finally got my hands on it. This costs £10, which I do think is a little steep for a 'high street' product, but did the price reflect the quality?

The product came in a small box, which I liked as it meant that I knew for definite it hadn't been tampered with. The look of the pencil is pretty simple; a standard black pen shape, with the two separate products either end.

The brow tint is by far my favourite part. It looks a little like a felt tip pen, and it isn't too dark, which makes it perfect to outline my brows and keep them looking natural. I've been using this for about three months now and it still hasn't dried up which was something I was concerned about.

The pencil part of the product doesn't really impress me. It looks a little off in colour and I don't know whether that's because mine is dodgy or that it is supposed to look like that. I have to press down quite hard to get any colour pay off, but when I do, my brows look quite natural.

I probably wouldn't repurchase this, as I think it's quite pricey for just the one element that I love, Hopefully, in the future, they will release the tint on it's own.

Left - Tint, Right - Pencil

Have you tried S&G Archery? What did you think?

HUGE Lush Haul

I don't know whether this can be counted as a 'huge' haul, but it's absolutely massive for me. I bought some of these at the Sheffield Beauty Blogger meet up, some were gifts and some I bought in Bristol when visiting family. I didn't see the point of three separate posts so I decided to haul them all together.

I'll go through the bath bombs first of all. I got two Lord of Misrule bath bombs. As I don't have a Lush in my hometown, I had given my nanna a list of products I wanted for my birthday and this was on it. However, after smelling it at the Lush stand, I decided to buy another. Unfortunately, this was a Halloween limited edition, but there were some still available at the Bristol store so maybe there's still some floating about. I much prefer spicy smells to sweet ones and this is the bomb I'm much looking forward to using.

If there was a mix of spicy and sweet, Cinders would fit that category. I've already used this, and I loved the warm toffee smell it gave off. Definitely a winter favourite.

I'll admit it, I bought the Luxury Lush Pud bath bomb because of the colours. With the little sprig of holly in the middle, this is one I'm saving for nearer Christmas time, for a relaxing bubble bath on a cold night. This has lavender in it, one of my favourite scents.

Northern Lights was another gift, but unfortunately, it snapped in half and by the time I travelled home with it, it had completely exploded. The demonstrations of this have me so excited to use it, and I reckon I'll get at least two goes from it, so it doesn't matter so much that it is currently in a hundred pieces.

If you're wondering why this is the best 'Ickle Baby Bot' you've seen, it's because I made it myself at the Sheffield event.

Butterbear, I bought in Sheffield. This is definitely one of my favourite smells, and my sister even bought one for my niece as they're not as strong and over powering as other bombs. This is a melt and supposed to make your skin feel nice and soft and at less than £2, it's a lot more purse friendly than some others.

The Sparkly Pumpkin was another Halloween bath bomb. This is absolutely covered in glitter so I'm not looking forward to scrubbing the bath out after using it, but it's so pretty to look at.

On the theme of glitter, Holly Golightly is another bubble bar, and also completely covered in sparkles. This is the most Christmassy scent of them all. I reckon I should get a few goes out of this.

And lastly, I got the candy mountain, which is another bubble bar. If you like really sweet smells, you'll love this. It smells exactly like snow fairy, which I also got a small bottle of.

I'm glad I only asked for a small, as the smell is very sweet, and actually has a weird after smell for me. This isn't something I could use every day, but it's nice for every now and then.

I've seen a couple of reviews of D'fluff, a strawberry shaving foam. I've never used a shaving cream before, but hopefully this will help prevent those nasty red bumps I get on my legs.

I love Lush cleansers and have tried almost all of them, but my favourite by far is Angels on Bare Skin. So when a Christmas variety was released, doing the same things but with different ingredients such as cranberries and satsumas, I had to try it. It doesn't smell as nice as it's non-festive dupe, but I'm enjoying using it.

If you're wondering why it's been put in a different pot, that's because I wanted to take advantage of the 5 Lush pots scheme. If you collect five Lush pots with the stickers, you can get a free face mask. I chose Catastrophe Cosmetic after taking the advice of one of the ladies and I'm loving it upto now.

Lastly, I bought a massage bar called Soft Coer. This has chocolate in it and smells delicious. I've used it a few times already, so expect a more in depth review in the future. 

That's everything I've bought over the last month or so. Hopefully, this should all last me a good while. Have you bought anything from Lush lately?