Beauty: NYX Vinyl Matte Liner in Black Noir and Vivid Brights Liner in Vivid Fire

Hey all

I love liquid liner and finding a great one always takes time, I finally found the one I love so I thought I'd share it with you.

I first grabbed the Nyx Vinyl Liquid Liner a while ago as I loved how fine the tip was on it and it was really easy to apply, since then I've grabbed the matte and the amazing vivid fire shade.

NYX Liquid Suede Lipstick Metallic Matte in Biker Babe

I'm pretty sure everyone who owns a liquid lipstick will own from NYX....am I right or am I right???

If you don't own one of the Lip Lingerie products then I'll be surprised as they are just so popular! However I actually don't own any because I just can't get on with the formula as it's so drying.

Cue the Liquid Suede effect that I tried about a year ago now, and I'm obsessed with the suede finish instead of the matte finish. It was a win/win situation for me as I love the finish plus there is a huge colour range! I've got a post coming up soon on this so I'll just stick with this beauty for now, the new Metallic Matte range.

Must Have Cruelty Free Make up Brands

Hey All

A few weeks ago L shared her Top 5 skincare products (post here) so I thought I'd do the beauty version, I've been totally cruelty free in all purchases of make up for over 18 months, it's taken some discovery with some brands being shady about it and some brands making the decision to sell in china so are going back to animal testing (Nars I'm looking at you, that decision broke my heart!) Anyway, so here are some of my favourites!

Nyx Liquid Suede and Lip Lingerie

Hey All

I've been meaning to share these on the blog for ages and it's one of those things I've not gotten around to. When NYX arrived in Cardiff it was a happy day, a cruelty free brand that everyone raved about. I couldn't wait to try it. On my first visit I picked up two of the Nyx Lip Lingeries, after swatching on my hand I was sold they had such a soft mouse like texture that I had to have them.

Since then I've gotten another and a few of the Liquid Suede. I've got the liquid suedes in seductive socialite and soft spoken and the lip lingeries in ruffle trim, push up and bedtime flirt (courtesy of L as she didn't get on with the shade!). These have lived in my handbag since I picked them up, with the exception of seductive socialite, I love this shade but it's not an everyday colour. When I wore it to work a colleague talked to me, stared at my lips and said your lipstick if very purple!

The liquid suede shades are so soft on the lips, they apply well (the applicator on nyx liquid lipsticks is a bit longer than a normal doe foot applicator so takes a bit of getting used to at first!) and last pretty well. These are some of the most comfortable liquid lipsticks and don't leave you with that dreaded lipliner look as these wear off.

The lip lingeries dry slightly more matte then the suedes but are still super comfortable these also really last!! These last on me all day. One thing to be wear of with these are the shades are very similar and the colour of your natural lips effects this. Bedtime flirt looks totally different on L and me.

Subversive Socialite

Subversive socialite is a rich blue toned purple, this is one of the liquid suedes so dries semi matte. I do find it needs two coats but it wears well and is easy to reapply, it doesn't go cakey when layered up.

Soft spoken

Is another liquid suede, this shade is super popular and I can see why. On me it's a rose toned nude brown. It's so easy and comfortable to wear and really finishes off most looks. 

Ruffle trim

Is the first of the lip lingeries and slightly more orange toned than it's showing here. I love this as it's not the tone of nude I normally go for. I've been wearing it loads though and the lasting power is amazing.

Push up

Is the lightest nude I can get away with without being washed out. Anything too pale doesn't suit me as my lips are naturally quite dark. I surprised myself with how much I like this colour!

Bedtime flirt

 You can see the difference in colour on L and I here. On L it's definitely more brown toned than on me. I originally had this in my hand when I bought the first two but decided against it. On me it's more pink than the other lip lingeries I have but still nude.

Next on my hit list is exotic. I love the slight red tone to it. These formulations are my favourite of all the liquid lipstick trends as they are matte without being uncomfortable!

Have you got any lip lingeries or liquid suedes? 

Love M

xxx

NYX Cosmetics Dark Circle Concealer Corrector

Hello all!

We went to an event at the new NYX Cosmetics stand in Boots in Cardiff and picked up a few new things to try. I'd heard a lot about NYX but hadn't ever tried anything, so when the invite came through I knew I would be spending a small fortune picking up all the things I had heard about.

One of the items I picked up was the Dark Circle Concealer Corrector - I always seem to have some eye bags and having an extra product to help mask these and prime my under eyes for concealer seems to be a good option for me.

The corrector is available in four colours and I chose 'Fair', there is also Light, Medium and Deep.

It contains coconut oil and china clay, these both help to keep the corrector hydrating for the delicate under eye skin and also helps with reflection of light. The orange pigmentation helps to combat the blue tones of the dark circles.

The product comes in a small pot with a screw top lid. Part of me would like this to be in a tube to make it easier to get all of the product out, but I've been using my beauty blender sponge to dip into the pot so I don't get bacteria in it all the time. This means I can use the pointed end to scoop up some product and then apply to my under-eye area with an even layer.

After this I then apply my concealer (currently Collection's Lasting Perfection concealer) and blend this on the top. I find it really covers the under eye bags and the blue tone is significantly less with the corrector.

I find that it needs to be blended very well and sometimes it does crease after 10/15mins of wear, but once it is blended back in again it seems to stay in place for the day.

You can see swatches below, Fair was a very good colour choice for me as it blends in seamlessly almost straight away. I had to lighten the photos so that you could see it! The photos show with and without flash, you can see the peachy tones and the light reflecting particles:

I've been using this a lot over the last few weeks (especially in the run up to my week off!) and it has worked wonders. I'd like to say I'm the kind of person who gets up early and has enough time in the morning to wear a full face, but I don't always manage to apply this as well as everything else.

However I know what product to turn to when I have the time or have an event to go to like a wedding etc and need the extra coverage. For £6.50 I think it is worth every penny and will last me a while.

Here's a picture below with the concealer corrector on:

What do you think of the product on? Have you tried it?

What's your favourite NYX product? I've found so many amazing products so far!

L xxx

NYX Contour Pro Single in Sculpt and Sculpt and Highlight Face Duo in Taupe/Ivory

Hey All

As you can probably guess from all of our NYX posts and features on our instagram L and I are totally in love with the products!

I'm a massive fan of a great contour so when we were at the counter the other day I couldn't resist a new sculpting powder as it looked a great tone and as I'm yet to own any cream/liquid contour I had to have the sculpt and highlight duo. 

I was instantly draw to the Highlight and Sculpt pro singles. I already have palettes I can put singles into so wasn't worried about buying the full palette. My only downside is that it didn't have a magnetised back for palettes but it's easy enough to stick one onto the back. As it also has a lid it's not necessary to keep it in a palette.

I choose the shade sculpt as it had a slight taupe shade to it and wasn't as brown toned as some of the others. The texture of these is so soft and blends into the skin so easily. I find myself reaching for this most days now as it's so easy to use. I've also layered it up with other contours for a stronger look for evenings.

Here is the contour shade on. If you're following my 100 days of make up on instagram you'll have seen it on more posts/

It's available from boots here for the bargain price of £3.25. They also do a palette of highlight and contour shades which is  £18 for 8 shades

Here is the face duo swatched first and the contour powder in sculpt at the end!

I've fancied trying a liquid contour and highlight for a while and when I saw the Sculpt and Highlight Face Duo it fell into my basket without question. It was the last one on the stand in Taupe/Ivory which made me want it more. 

It comes in a concealer wand type packaging with the doe foot applicator making it really easily to apply in a specific area and makes contouring precise and easy especially on the nose area.

The sculpt and highlight due really blend into the skin easy and give a flawless finish. I blend it out with a real techniques miracle complexion sponge (my favourite sponge I grabbed the primark ones hoping for a bargain but they just don't cut it!) to gently blend the product out. I find this works best. 

Here it is on. You can see it shapes my nose and cheek bones and adds definition to the face.

It's available from boots here for £9 and comes in different shades for different skin tones. I'm really pale and this one is perfect for me. 

NYX is also all cruelty free hence why I'm heading there and buying out most of the shop at the moment!

Have you tried the nyx contouring products?

Love M

xxx

NYX Cosmetics Brow Gel in Brunette

We all know that brows are big business, and after the myriad of products appeared on the market how do you even begin to start with purchasing the correct brow products for you??

I've been doing my brows now for the last few years, mine have always been black anyway so were always present on my face but having them 'done' makes such a big difference to my face. However I still haven't tried all of the different brow products that are available so I decided at the NYX cosmetics event in Cardiff a few weeks ago to try their Brow Gel.

The lovely Jade gave us a demonstration of a few products and this was one that caught my eye, we were told it may need some practice to get your brows right with this as it can dry really fast and be a bit pigmented.

With this in mind I didn't rush home and try this as soon as i could. I waited until I had some spare time and plenty of micellar water around just in case I ended up with eyebrows like Hagrid (subtle Harry Potter reference there!)

Following Jade's instructions I put a tiny but on the back of my hand, filled in the main section of my brows from the bottom with strokes moving upwards and outwards to the end, and then came back to fill the front in with whatever was left on my brush so I didn't have the dreaded Sharpie effect.

I got this right first time with these instructions so I'm really pleased (and thankful!) to Jade for taking us through the tips!



I did find that the tiniest bit went a long way, and it does dry quite fast although not as fast as I originally thought (I pretty much squeezed some out and gave myself a few seconds before thinking it would be dry!)

It all depends on the look you go for really, but I find outlining the bottom of the brow to give a clean line and then blending upwards and outwards in strokes gives a natural but defined look without being too heavy which is what I prefer for work. I have a few small patches at the front of my brows which are a bit sparse but it didn't look like these had been blocked in which was a small concern!

After using the brow gel to fill in i then either use a spoolie brush to blend the brow hairs or a product such as Benefit's Gimme Brow to set the hairs so they don't move. There's nothing that annoys me more than drawing my brows on and then the actual hairs (particularly at the ends) stick out in any direction later on in the day!

So how does it look on? Let's get very close to my face:

I find this easy to work with and I'm surprised, as normally I've always used a pencil or a product like Gimme Brow where the gel is on a brush already and simply needs to be brushed through.

Although this does take a little work I like drawing my brows on in the morning and I don't feel like it takes much longer either.

As far as longevity goes once this sets it does stay for the day. I have managed to smudge it at the end of the day (forgot I had it on and rubbed my temples after a long day - somehow managed to smudge the end off one brow at the same time!) so as long as your skin isn't too oily and you don't rub it I don't see any reason for it to move.

The NYX brow gel costs £5.50 and is available in 5 colours. I really think this is worth every penny and will definitely be back to try more from NYX.

This was the first product from them that I have properly tried, and I have a few more to review in the next few weeks including the infamous Lip Lingeries. I've been impressed so far especially for the prices, what do you think?

What's your favourite products from NYX? Have you tried the brow gel?

L xxx

NYX Kush Eyeshadow and Tropical Green Slide on Eye Pencil

Hey All

A few weeks ago L and I headed to an event at the NYX counter in Boots. I'd been in a few times prior to the event as I'm addicted to the lip lingeries (which I still need to share on the blog, if you're following my 100daysofmakeup on instagram you'll see they're firm favourites!). I picked up a few new bits so will be sharing those. I love green on the eyes and have featured a few FOTDs on here with greens so when I saw Kush eyeshadow I fell in love. I decided I probably didn't need it as I was buying the tropical green liner so was very happy when I was able to pick it for my goody bag.

The extreme shine liner in tropical green fell into my shopping bag without a question of a doubt on weather I need it. These liners are amazing. They glide so easily onto the eyes, blend out and last. Texture wise they remind me of the Urban Decay liners which are the bees knees!

Tropical green is an amazing emerald green shade and I've been loving sweeping it under the lower lashes for a pop of colour. As it's a deeper green it's easy to wear everyday! At £5 they're definitely worth picking up!

I'm a fan of colour on the eyelids and sway towards green and purple shadows easily. Kush caught my gaze straight away, along with enchanted which I will be going back for. They are a bargain £3.50 and even cheaper in pan form. As you can see from the swatch below they are super pigmented too and blend amazingly.

As you can see from the swatches of the both they are pigmented. They also last really well. I'll definitely be grabbing more of the eyeliners and eyeshadows! Even better than the price is that NYX are a cruelty free brand so one I can easily pick up. 

Here are both products on together! I really love the combination of the two!

I'm going to grab a foundation next, any recommendations?

Love M

xxx