Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipsticks & Aristo Clash Eyeliner

Rouge Edition Lipsticks £7.99 and Eyeliner in Purple Night £4.99
Currently buy one get one half price in Boots

This week has definitely become a week of lip related posts! Hoping you're not too bored of them yet, I thought I'd write a review of the new Bourjois Rouge Edition Collection. It features 18 shades in total, featuring 6 nude shades (Preppy), 6 brighter shades (Colour Block) and 6 darker, evening shades (Night Out). There was such a pleasing range of different shades for different occasions but I managed to narrow my choices down to two, one colour block and one night out shade.

#17 Rose Millesme - This one is the lighter shade in the 'night out' range. On me, this is a beautiful neutral pink shade with a hint of plummish undertones. 

#10 Rouge Buzz - This is a bright orange red that makes a wonderful statement lip.

I have to say, after testing a more neutral and a brighter shade I can confirm that these are not only very pigmented, but also an extremely comfortable and creamy finish that is almost unnoticeable on the lips. These have been likened to MAC Cremesheen's but I find them far less heavy and much easier and smoother to apply. They have a light sheen finish and hydrated my lips throughout the entire day. I did need to top them up once or twice, but overall I'm really impressed with these and would definitely look into getting more if I didn't have lipstick overload at the moment!

On the same stand as the lipsticks, I also noticed Bourjois' other latest collection, Artisto Clash. I'll be honest here and say the nail polishes and eyeshadow didn't really stand out to me, the eyeshadow was super shimmery and the nail polishes.. well, I definitely have enough of them! However, I spotted the eyeliner and couldn't be happier. I've wanted a purple shade to smudge under the lower lash line for months now and this one is just beautiful!

As you can see from the picture, it has fine shimmer through it but this is not at all gritty or uncomfortable on the skin or inner eye. My favourite way to wear it is smudged under the lash line with a gold shadow on the lid. I absolutely love this for a pop of colour and love how it makes green eyes stand out. It also lasted really, really well so if you're like me and not quite ready for bright eyeshadow looks I would really try this out :)

Have you tried anything from the new Bourjois collections?

Dior Diorskin Nude Shimmer Instant Illuminating Powder

This was a recent naughty purchase that I decided to reward myself after losing a stone (woohoo!) since I've decided it's a great motivator to purchase something from my wishlist everytime I lose a substantial amount. It's been on my wishlist for ages ever since I saw Tanya Burr use it in some of her videos and fell in love with the way it looked when the light hit! It's my first Dior product and I have to say, I'm extremely impressed.

The powder itself is so finely milled and buttery soft. As you can see from swatches below, it's a lovely light golden shade that blends effortlessly to give an amazing glow. It isn't too glittery, it's more of a sheen across your cheeks and doesn't make me look oily at all, just really lovely and healthy! As always with Dior, the packaging is beautiful and sleek, with a handy decent sized mirror inside for topping up any makeup. The spongey applicator is actually pretty good as far as in-product tools come and works well to dab the product onto your cheekbones without overdoing it.

It's usually about £32, but I purchased mine here from Escentual.com for just under £5 cheaper which I don't think is too bad for 10g of high end product!

Have you tried this? What's your favourite highlighter? :)

Review: Rimmel Apocalips!

I don't know about all of you, but when I saw that Rimmel were bringing out a lip laquer similar to higher end offerings I was definitely intrigued. After hearing so much about the Armani Maestro versions but deciding they were way out my price range for a product of it's kind I was overjoyed to hear there would be a drugstore dupe and after seeing them on various different blogs I knew I had to have them! Pigmented? Check. Amazing colours? Check. Comfortable wear? Check. They sounded right up my street! :)

From L-R: Luna, Celestial, Stellar, Apocaliptic, Big Bang

One thing I can say is they definitely fulfilled all the promised claims. As you can see from swatches, the colour payoff is amazing and these really are liquid lipsticks, they didn't move all day, especially the brighter shades! The colours I chose were Luna, Celestial, Stellar, Apocaliptic and Big Bang. The other shades in the range are a brown-toned nude (Nude Eclipse), a pinky shade I also really want (Nova) and a plummy shade (Galaxy) which I didn't get purely as I own SO many plums! The packaging for these is also lovely, I love how you can see the colour at the bottom and it almost looks a bit sleek whilst not being too boring.

The formula is so wonderful - creamy and opaque with minimal effort required in terms of topping it up throughout the day and the price is what makes these even better at £5.99 each. The only negatives I would point out is this can have a tendancy to go a bit everywhere if you don't apply a lip liner around your lips prior to application. Also, I would comment that the lighter shades can be a bit patchy and Luna definitely took a little more effort to look good but this is an easily fixed problem :)

Luna - I have to say, this shade was my least favourite of the ones I picked up. I found the formula of this to be quite patchy and unflattering, you could see a lot of imperfections on my lips. However with a lip scrub, this one does make a lovely peachy shade that I'd liken slightly to MAC Shy Girl.

Celestial - This is what I'd consider the everyday lip choice of the bunch. I adore this shade, a lovely neutral pink/plum that I've found works with a variety of makeup looks! This one reminds me a lot of MAC Plumful which I also like a lot.

Stellar - This shade is another one of my picks of the bunch! An amazing bright corally pink that is so similar to MAC Impassioned on the lips it's crazy! Definitely an amazing summer shade that I cannot wait to wear.

Apocaliptic - This is the fuschia pink of the lot, another very bright shade with blue undertones. This will be a great 'nights out' option for me, especially with it's similarity to MAC Girl About Town which is my favourite for those sorts of occasions!

Big Bang - Eeeek sorry, you can kind of see what I mean about the bleeding thing with this one! This is an amazing red and one I will definitely reach for on lazy days where I'm wearing simple eye and face makeup as it'll make an amazing statement lip! I don't have a MAC dupe for this as a lot of people are saying Russian Red but to me it's far lighter and pinker!

Overall, I'm so impressed with Rimmel at the moment, they are definitely upping their game and bringing out some incredible products. I really believe these are one product absolutely worth the hype and one of my favourite launches of the last year by far! 

What colour do you like from this collection? Have you picked any of these up?

Review: Barry M Pink Silver Polish, Sophisticated Glitter!

Hi everyone! As you can probably tell if you were a follower of mine before my blog has had a total makeover thanks to the lovely Ana @ Peaches and Cream designs. I would highly recommend using her design service if you're looking to revamp your blog, she honestly works wonders! Second thing, if anyone knows of a good, free editing program for photos I would really appreciate it as the lighting in my uni room is atrocious and I want the best quality pictures possible with would probably involve some tweaking! 

That aside, I thought today I would show you what I'd call my sophisticated glitter polish :)

The nail polish in question is Barry M's Pink Silver Glitter. Weirdly enough, I don't think I would have picked out this shade myself. It was actually a Christmas present from my lovely housemates (they know me so well) but after trying it on, it's absolutely beautiful.

As always, the formulation is great. I find Barry M to last longer on my nails than most higher end brands which is great considering they're only £2.99 each! It's lasted around 4 days before chipping and was opaque within two coats on me, even better considering how impatient I get painting my nails which often ends in my trying to multi-task and smudging polish all over myself. Not great!

The shade is perfect for being a neutralish glitter as I'm not often a fan of the really in your face ones, I'm much more of a plain creamy colour kind of girl but for this polish, I can definitely make an exception.

Have you tried this shade? What's your favourite glitter? 

Review: Maybelline Volume Express Rocket Mascara

Maybelline Volume Express Rocket Mascara £7.99 (Maybelline currently buy one get one half price in Boots!)

It's not really like me to pick a mascara up on a whim but when I saw this particular one I thought why not? I really look for a mascara to help define my lashes and hold a curl as my natural ones are pretty long and straight and since getting this I have to say, I'm so glad I did.

Like I hinted before, I hadn't seen any reviews on this but from what I believe it's a pretty recent release. It promises to produce no clumping whilst creating fuller, thicker looking lashes up to 8x their normal size. Though I'm not entirely convinced they're 8x as big, it definitely made my lashes full and kept a curl amazingly well and there were no clumps to speak of! However, as you may see in the photos the real selling point of this mascara is the way is defines and lengthens for me,

The formula itself is very black which is always a plus and doesn't go all dry and flakey on the lashes. It actually felt really lightweight and didn't irritate my sensitive eyes in the slightest. I also had no problems removing this and it came off with absolute ease and didn't smudge throughout the day which is often a problem for me as my eyes can be pretty sensitive and watery but there is a waterproof  version if you prefer.

top picture just curled and bottom picture is wearing mascara 

I actually think this may rival my Max Factor 2000 Calorie as I've rejected it for this everyday since I got it! What's your favourite mascara? Have you tried this?

Review: Revlon Colorburst Lipglosses

Before I found these I literally couldn't bare to wear any lip glosses ever. After trying different formula's from Barry M to MAC I found I hated how sticky and uncomfortable the majority were. All I wanted was a light, no hassle everyday lip product and I definitely found it in the Revlon Lipglosses. 

L-R Bellini, Pink Ice, Strawberry, Fire, Sunbaked, Bordeaux

First off, I love the packaging. It's actually pretty similar to the Chanel Glossimers and for a drugstore brand I think Revlon have the sleek packaging down. Secondly, I love that the light Vanilla scent these have isn't really overpowering, there's definitely nothing worse than finding a lovely product with a disgustingly strong, synthetic scent!

In terms of formulation, they are so comfortable to wear that I barely notice I'm wearing them. The nude glosses (Bellini and Pink Ice) are so flattering for everyday wear for someone who doesn't really suit nude lipsticks and they are all so so pigmented, as you will see in pictures below! The applicator is a flat doe-foot which makes it easy to cover your lips in two easy swipes which is always great when you're on the move.

 

Top Left to Bottom Right - Bellini, Pink Ice, Strawberry, Fire, Sunbaked, Bordeaux
Usually £7.99 but £5 at the moment in Boots!

They all vary in finishes with shades such as 'Strawberry', 'Bordeaux' and 'Pink Ice' appearing glittery in the tube. However I must comment that once on the lips, it really isn't very noticeable at all in look or feel of them. 'Bellini', 'Sunbaked' and 'Fire' don't contain any shimmer so if it is something that worries you, I'd go for one of those shades instead. It's hard to choose a favourite and I really have been impressed with all six shades I own but if I had to go for one I'd say 'Pink Ice' for being such a wearable shade with any make up look but I would highly recommend any of these shades, Papaya is next on my list!

Review: MAC Stereo Rose

Today I thought I'd so a review of the recently re-released cult MAC product, Stereo Rose. I've heard so much about this product that I definitely sucumbed to the hype when I heard it was being released again in the Apres Chic collection and thus far, I am enjoying it but it hasn't made it's way into my favourites just yet!

MAC Stereo Rose £21.50

The beautiful look to the product is something that definitely translates once on the skin to create a coral shade with golden shimmer running through it. The colour definitely leans to more of a yellow toned pink rather which I find works far more flattering on a number of skintones. Like the majority of the MSF's, Stereo Rose is good in terms of pigmentation but I find does need reapplying every couple of hours or so to maintain it's full coral shade.

As you can see, it definitely has a lot of shimmer so if you're not a fan of this I would definitely stay clear! For me, I do see why people would love this product especially for the warmer months but I wouldn't say it's wowed me as far as longevity and amazing colour pay off goes for the price it is.

In terms of avaliability you may still find this in some stores around the UK but if not, I think this blush by Vivo (stocked in Tesco's!) is an amazing dupe :)

What do you think of Stereo Rose?