Red Lip Inspiration!

Left to Right: Collection Volume Sensation Lipstick (8 Cherry Pop), MAC Frost Lipstick (New York Apple), Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss Lipstick (107), Soap & Glory Gloss Stick (Plum Jam)

Left to Right: Collection Volume Sensation Lipstick (8 Cherry Pop), MAC Frost Lipstick (New York Apple), Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss Lipstick (107), Soap & Glory Gloss Stick (Plum Jam)

Sometimes I'm a bit afraid of red lips. I love them dearly but every now and again I'm out and about and suddenly have the fear that I look a bit silly with my bright red lipstick. I often neglect my red lip products for this very reason so I felt I should write this post about my favourite reds to inspire both myself and you to be a bit bolder with red lips!

The brightest red lipstick I own is the Collection Volume Sensation Lipstick in 8 Cherry Pop (£2.99) and this also happens to be the most neglected. It's a really pretty colour (think Taylor Swift red lipstick) and lasts absolutely ages. It has a very creamy formulation and for the price I think it's amazing. It may be getting a little cold and dark for such a bright lipstick but if you can make it work, go for it!

Next along is a darker red, MAC Frost Lipstick in New York Apple (£15.50). This is one of my favourite lipsticks but one that I feel doesn't get mentioned much. I'd say it's more of a berry red colour - good for Autumn! - and I think it would look really nice on a whole range of skin tones. The frost finish isn't the most well loved from MAC and I understand why but I do think you can make lipsticks of this finish work very nicely with a little extra effort!

This one is a very popular lipstick. No doubt you'll have heard of Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss Lipstick in 107 (£5.49). Again this shade is much darker than the Collection lipstick, it's almost a purple in fact, but I would still class it as a red (wine red, perhaps?) based on the way it looks on the lips. I absolutely love this shade and out of the three lipsticks mentioned I think it is the easiest to apply and maintain throughout the day. If you haven't tried it I would highly recommend getting it next time you're looking for a lipstick of this kind of colour.

Finally, a more glossy red. Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Plum Jam (£8) is one that I love for a look that isn't quite as bold as the others. While it looks like a very dark red in the stick I think that when on it just adds a red-tinted shine that's really lovely. I think it would be a good choice if you were planning on going for heavy eye make up but still wanted a red lip. I don't find it too sticky and I think it is well worth trying out if you like a gloss!

Have you tried any of these lip products and loved (or hated!) them? Are you slightly afraid of red lips too? I'd love to hear!

Thanks for reading,

Eleanor xx

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Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer VS Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer

I struggle find a good concealer. Dark under eye circles are a pain, anyone who struggles with them will tell you. In my time I've tried a few concealers so I thought I'd post a quick comparison between two pretty well known, popular concealers. I chose affordable concealers as these tend to be the most hit and miss.

Left: Collection Lasting Perfection
Right: Rimmel Wake Me Up

The two concealers the I'm comparing are Collection Lasting Perfection Full Cover Concealer and Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer.

Collection Lasting Perfection

Rimmel Wake Me Up

Price: Collection Lasting Perfection

Both of these are budget concealers, but at £4.19 Collection's concealer clearly beats out Rimmel's for price.

Coverage: Collection Lasting Perfection
There's a reason beauty bloggers and vloggers love it so much. It really does give great coverage and covers up pretty much everything you need to cover. I often use it to cover up the worst parts of my skin and then skip foundation. The only reason it doesn't give me complete coverage is because my dark circles are SO BAD. (Any other dark circle concealer recommendations would be great - price not an problem within reason).

Packaging: Rimmel Wake Me Up
The words stay on, for a start. If I forgot the name of Collection Lasting Perfection I would have no idea because my tube no longer says anything! Also, I really love the orange top - really stands out in my make up collection.

Colour range: Rimmel Wake Me Up
Technically, there are the same amount of colours but I have found that they are more usable and varied colours. Collection Lasting Perfection tends to be a bit orange and Rimmel's just seem a bit more natural to me.

Appearance: Rimmel Wake Me Up
For a similar reason to the last, the Rimmel colours look a lot less orange. Although saying that, they are a bit sparkly so you may struggle not to look like Edward Cullen if you go out in the sun. It's also not as thick so is less likely to settle into lines if that's a problem that you have.

Lasting power: Collection Lasting Perfection
While 16 hour wear may be a bit of a stretch, this concealer does stay on for ages. Lasts through the day.

OVERALL WINNER: COLLECTION LASTING PERFECTION
Although it's technically a draw, I feel like Collection Lasting Perfection wins where it counts. It's a great concealer from under the eyes and blemishes both and has got me through a few skin troubles. Absolutely love this concealer, definitely a favourite of mine.

I hope this post has helped anyone pick a concealer if they were struggling and as I said earlier on in the post if you have any recommendations for concealers (especially for dark circles) I'd love to hear them in the comments!
Eleanor xx

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Top Ten Tag

These posts have been floating around for a while now and although I haven't technically been tagged to do one I figured I'd give it a shot anyway!

1. Foundation - No7 Instant Radiance Founation (Cool Vanilla); Boots; £12.50; 30ml

Overall I find this to be a pretty solid foundation. I'd say that it's medium coverage and does what it says it does (improve the appearance of tired or stressed skin). Although I got it matched to me I would say that it's slightly pink as my skin is actually warm toned and this is cool, unfortunately.

2. Powder - No7 Translucent Perfect Light Loose Powder; Boots; £10.50; 20g

As with the foundation, I would say this is an overall good product which does its job just fine. I tend to only have one powder at a time as I don't really think it's necessary to have lots and this is the one I'm using at the moment!

3. Concealer - Collection Lasting Perfection Full Cover Concealer (Fair); Boots; £4.19; ???

I'm sure you've heard of this concealer. Every blogger's favourite, Collection's concealer is the best of the bunch. While it doesn't completely cover my dark circles it does cover them twice as well as any other concealer I've tried (Rimmel Wake Me Up was quite a disappointment, honestly) so it gets a thumbs up from me!

4. Blush - Sleek Blush (Rose Gold); Superdrug; £4.49; 8g

I have totally fallen in love with this blush over the last few weeks. Gorgeous pink colour with slight gold shimmer. I would definitely recommend this to anyone and I'm planning on getting some different shades from Sleek soon - they have some beautiful colours!

5. Bronzer - Collection Bronze Glow Mosaic Powder (1 Sunkissed); Boots; £2.99; 15g

If I'm being completely honest, I haven't tried many bronzers. I'm very pale (notice that my concealer is the lightest shade they do) so a lot of them look muddy. Great quality for the price.

6. Highlighter - N/A

Another moment of honesty - I have never owned a highlighter. Not going to lie, I'm a bit ashamed that I have a beauty blog and don't own one. Any recommendations?

7. Mascara - L'oreal Mega Volume Miss Manga Mascara; Boots; £8.99; 8.5ml

Very lengthening and volumising. I really love this mascara. One that you have to be careful with though as it is more likely to cause clumping with extra coats than a lot of other mascaras that I've tried. Overall I would repurchase.

8. Eyeshadow - MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow (Pure Flash!); MAC stores/counters/online; £15.50; 2.1g

Weirdly, my dad bought me this eyeshadow. I believe it's part of a collection (?) and it's very different in texture to most eyeshadows. It's very strange - a bit like wet clay. The colour is a really nice shimmery gold and I've really been enjoying it lately. Apparently dads can buy make up...

9. Brows - Collection Work The Colour Eyebrow Kit; Boots; £3.99; 3x1g + 1x2ml

Has all the basic eyebrow necessities - a small angled brush, powders to actually fill in the eyebrows, and a clear brow gel to keep it all in place. A nice handy product.

10. Lip product - MAC Frost Lipstick (Angel); MAC stores/counters/online; £15.50; ???

My favourite lip product changes almost daily so this was a tough choice but I have been loving this lipstick recently. It's a lovely baby pink colour that doesn't draw too much attention to the lips whilst still adding colour.

Well. That took a surprisingly long time. Thanks for reading!
Eleanor xx

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Mini Make Up Haul

This past weekend I went out to Boots and Superdrug and got a few things, having recently had a birthday and been given some money it seemed to make sense. I only got a few things as I'm going to a MAC counter soon (and might have a look at Nars - bit more expensive though!) but I thought I'd share the products on my blog as I felt that they were actually very good quality.

Top: Sleek Eyeshadow Palette
Bottom: Collection Eyebrow Kit, Sleek Blush

Sleek MakeUP i-Divine Palette (Au Naturel 601); Superdrug; £7.99; 12x1.1g

Having heard good things about the eyeshadow palettes from this brand I thought I'd pick up their neutrals palette as I do tend to opt for more neutral eyes for everyday make up.  I really love the colours in this palette (although I may avoid the yellow and the orange) and when I tried a few of the shades I was actually really impressed with the quality! While they do not match the quality of some eyeshadows - like MAC, for example - they are really good and 12 for £7.99 is such amazing value. They're very pigmented and they apply very easily and evenly. I would definitely repurchase and I'm considering getting another palette from Sleek. The foam brush isn't that great and wasn't really necessary in my opinion but overall I think it's the best palette you can get for less than £10.

Collection Work The Colour Eyebrow Kit; Boots; £3.99; 3x1g (powders) + 2ml (brow mascara)

When I was in Boots I picked up this little kit as I was in desperate need for something for my eyebrows as I really struggle with them (dark eyebrows on pale skin can be a tricky one!). I found that it was really good and worked very nicely for my eyebrows. I used the middle shade even though my eyebrows are probably closer in colour to the dark - makes me look a bit less crazed if I go for lighter colours! The little brush is super useful, especially the angled end and the Clear Brow Mascara helps it to stay on a bit longer which is always great.

Sleek MakeUP Blush (Rose Gold 926); Superdrug; £4.49; 8g

Again, a Sleek product. I was also very impressed with this blush - I'm surprised that I hadn't heard of Sleek until a few weeks ago! The packaging of both products was hard plastic that feels like it's really durable - it's never good when the packaging starts falling apart! This blush is reasonably pigmented and is just a lovely colour. The actual shade of the rosy pink looks fairly natural on my cheeks (may vary for others depending on skin tone) but there is also gold shimmer to it which adds an extra effect. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a new blush that is great value for money. I'm definitely looking forward to using this blush quite a lot and I think it may become one of my go to blushes.

Hope you enjoyed this post and if you have any questions about the products just let me know in a comment!

Eleanor xx

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5 Back To School Make Up Essentials

The time has finally come upon us - it's time for those who are in school to go back. Dragging yourself out of your bed every morning for school is not the most fun activity, so is often delayed as long as possible. This leaves very little time for doing your make up.
I personally go for basics when I do my make up for school anyway; avoiding foundation, my eyebrows, or anything makes me look as though I'm done up. As I went back today I thought I'd compile a list of my 5 essential make up products that I wear for school. These could also be done for a lazy day or just a day where you don't want to wear heavy make up, it's not exclusive to school.

Top left to right: Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, Vaseline Rosy Lips
Bottom left to right: Gosh White Kohl Eye Pencil, No7 Extreme Length Mascara, No7 Translucent Loose Powder

Concealer - Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer; Boots; £4.19;  ???

For me, concealer is the most important product. I'd say that if I was only allowed one make up product for the rest of my life I would choose concealer. I wear it at school as it gives a lighter look due to you only having coverage where you particularly need it, in my case I mostly concentrate on under my eyes due to my dark circle problem.

This particular concealer has great coverage for the price and helps to conceal any imperfections wonderfully. I find that it dries quite quickly, though. This can be good  in some ways but means that I have to try to blend it as quickly as possible so that it looks how I would like it to.

Powder - No7 Translucent Perfect Light Loose Powder; Boots; £10.50; 20g

Even when you have very little make up on you must use powder to set it. Doing this makes it last longer so you are less likely to have to reapply during the day. If you have oily skin or skin that is shiny it is even more important to use powder as it takes away this shine, too.

I use this powder from No7 that I got when testing their Match Made Foundation service. I'm not always a fan of loose powder but this  is just what I need. I prefer translucent powders like this as you don't have to worry about getting the wrong shade.

Eye Pencil - Gosh Kohl Eye Pencil (White); Superdrug; £4.49; 1.1g

While you may think that white eye liner is a little strange, it does help to brighten up the eyes when used on the waterline - perfect for school! I'm always tired when I'm at school and the eye pencil helps to make my eyes look brighter, wider, and more awake. Plus the white colour is a lot more subtle and therefore is perfect for a minimal make up look. I personally would not use it anywhere but my waterline, especially for school.

This eye pencil is pretty good and doesn't tug at the eyes when you try and apply it. It doesn't take long to do and is easy to control

Mascara - No7 Extreme Length Mascara; Boots; £12.50; ???

Mascara is obviously one of the most important steps. It makes your eyes look bolder and bigger, as well as making your lashes look longer and more defined.

I don't remember getting this mascara and I think I have a sample version as it is fairly small. Despite that, it is a good mascara that I like to wear and that extends the length of my eyelashes just as the name suggests. It isn't my all time favourite mascara but it serves its purpose just fine. It doesn't clump and I'd say that overall it's a good mascara.

Lips - Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips Rose And Almond Oil Petroleum Jelly; Boots; £2.19; 20g

I personally like to wear a lipgloss to school or something that will tint my lips slightly and make them look shiny. I also like things that are moisturising on my lips as I am concerned about them being dry, especially as it will start getting colder soon and that is probably going to dry them out and if they are dry it makes life much more difficult when applying lipstick.

Although Vaseline isn't technically lipgloss I like this as it has a pink tint to it as well as being moisturising. It is also good value for money and all types of vaseline are very good for the lips.

I hope this has helped anyone who wants a basic make up look, whether they are in school or not.

Eleanor xx