2014: Favourite Products of the Year

Well it isn't long until the big day now is it?! 

I've been having an enjoyable time looking over some of my posts from the last year and trying to decide which products have been my favourite. Some months it was easy to pick one out, others it was difficult to choose between some and I did end up listing a few!

So without waffling on any longer here are my favourite products from the last year, if you click on the product name it will take you straight to the original review.

January

The Tangle Teezer was a present that i told my brother to buy me when I had no pennies left and my hairdresser recommended it to me. It was a winner and I need more of them, one for my gym bag, a mini for my handbag...the list is endless! You really do need one.

February

The Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask has been raved about for a while and it took me a few months to get my hands on it but it has solved so many skin problems varying from dehydration to breakouts that it's a necessary product in my cabinet now.

March

As an avid Origins fan I love it at Christmas time when they bring out their sets. Last year's Origins Morning to Midnight Set was my first chance to try the popular Night A Mins and Ginzing moisturiser. All I need to tell you is that I've already picked up this year's version, they're so great for value and it comes with a make up bag this year too!

April

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Naked Basics was something I bought at the Electric Palette product showcase. The 24/7 pencils are awesome and I wanted more variety of every day colours to add to my make up bag; this one matches my Basics palette and has been used quite a lot throughout the year for a subtly lined eye for work.

May

I'll start by telling you now that Urban Decay have taken a large amount of cash from me this year so expect to be bombarded with pictures. Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation is a gorgeous lightweight foundation that really does look like a second skin; though I find it doesn't cover enough on those bad skin days that crop up.

After my successful purchase of the Naked Basics eye pencil when I saw the Triple Threat set with 3 of the most used colours I knew I had to have it. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil Triple Threat set contains Perversion which I now find I have 3 of in my make up bag; it really is as good as everyone says and I wouldn't use anything else.

June

I bought a palette last year to put all of my MAC pan eye shadows into but am yet to complete a side of it. It was my plan to buy more but clearly I've been side tracked throughout the year... I did pick up MAC Eyeshadow in Satin Taupe after many recommendations and can say it's another worthy of the reviews. It blends out super easily for day and can be applied heavier for night for a smoky eye.

July

With all of my new 24/7 pencils it was only time before I picked up the Urban Decay 24/7 Blending Brush It's a must for those who like a blended and smoky line on the eyes and like the blend multiple colours too. I haven't seen many brushes like this either and the quality is great. I use it daily.

August

Good Things Manuka Honey Cream Cleanser was a random purchase but one I loved; I've since been back to try more from the range and am yet to be disappointed. No nasty chemicals, products that work and all for an affordable price! No brainer.

September 

Urban Decay have killed it this year with their new products; the Pulp Fiction collection was no different. The eyeshadow palette and the lipstick and liner were very welcome additions to my life - note the happy face wearing it all below!

Not to mention also their Perversion and Subversion mascara and lash primer. The mascara is fab on its own but the lash primer really makes your lashes thicker and longer; I save this for my nights out for a false lash effect.

Neal's Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm was kindly given to me to review after a NYR Organic Beauty party. It was a lovely and fun event and I've been using this multi functional wonder product ever since. The 10th Year anniversary design is gorgeous and gives you an inkling of how loved the product is; 10 years is a brilliant achievement!

October

Not much needs to be said about this one if you've seen it. Benefit's Cheeky Sweet Spot is their first ever palette containing a variety of blushes from the Box O Powder product extraordinaires. Get it before it sells out!

Nars entered my life at this point for the very first time. Cue lots of rave reviews from myself including Orgasm Blush and the Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella

November

Another of my first Nars purchases, the Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park has become a firm favourite in my handbag as the satin finish allows it to be worn for a variety of occasions and the colour is a beautiful berry colour perfect for the Autumn Winter season.

December

It was a tough call for the December favourite but luckily for me there weren't a lot of products to choose from as the reviews were replaced with yearly round ups and lifestyle posts. The infamous UD have brought out another corker of a Christmas gift set in the form of the Urban Decay Black Magic 24/7 Double Ended Pencils. You need this if you love eyeliners, if you love the 24/7 pencils, if you love darker liners or if you travel and like to carry a variety of colours with you at one time.

Special mention also goes to Nip and Fab generally seeing as I've purchased pretty much their entire range this year, and also to the Nars Virtual Domination palette which I haven't yet reviewed and am totally in love with, plus the UD TEN 24/7 eyeliner set which is another staple for a coloured liner fan like myself. Cue lots of party looks coming my way!

What have been your favourite products of the year?

L xxx

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Mia Wallace Lipstick and Lip Liner

Good morning!

It's almost the weekend hooraaaaay!

And with a new weekend means a new lipstick - obviously.

I'm a rather big fan of Tarantino and his weird and wonderful ways; there's nothing more classic than Pulp Fiction, I've always wanted to wear a white shirt and black trousers on a night out and hit up the dancefloor. It's even more of a must now that I have the official Pulp Fiction Mia Wallace lipstick and liner from none other than the absolutely amazing Urban Decay. It is bordering on obsession with my collection but hey ho, I could be a drug addict and that's clearly a lot worse mum ok??

The packaging is spot on, matte black and with the PF logo on it. The lipstick itself is a Revolution Lipstick which we already know from the lovely Native lipstick we were given previously is a top quality, super pigmented and creamy lipstick that just lasts and lasts. The colour itself is the most perfect blood red shade that Mrs Mia Wallace sports in the film in her totally badass ways.

The packaging itself is pretty badass and is a black gunmetal shade instead of the lighter pewter colour of the normal range. The lipstick bullet itself just looks so creamy and perfect, it was hard to use it the first time as it was so pristine but alas, that feeling didn't last long and I soon had it on my lips!

My absolute favourite part of all the packaging?

This:

HOW FREAKING COOL.

The most infamous quote of the entire film goes right from one end of the box to the other and honestly, opening this up was one of my favourite 'ooooh' moments. Make up really does excite me that much, and details like this even more so. Studying forensics is all in the details and these always impress me.

As for the lip liner, in the exact same packaging the 24/7 liner helps to create a pout worthy of Mrs Wallace by preventing feathering and defining your lip line for the lipstick to be placed on top. I don't own a red lip liner and this one has been invaluable now that the weather is turning a bit colder and the darker lip colours are coming out. And it really does glide, no dragging on the skin whatsoever!









The colours are perfectly matched as you would expect and you can see them swatched on my hand below with the colours from the matching eyeshadow palette I also had to snap up. See how perfect the line is from the pencil:



I've been wearing this lipstick and liner a few times recently and have been super impressed. Honestly, once they're on and have dried they do not budge, not even the tiniest little bit.

The photo below was taken after the NYR event in Bristol a few weeks ago. I had eaten, drunk, talked and drunk some more and 6 hours later my lipstick still looked as perfect as when I first applied it:

Excuse the excitement; drinking on trains seems to get me quite giggle!

Even when I'd had a few more cocktails and got home later without reapplying once the colour was still completely perfect on my lips. It looked like it had stained my lips but using micellar water the colour came right off.

I'm 100% obsessed with this and cannot leave it alone. This time last year I just about wore red lipstick on occasions but now my collection has grown to about 8 dark red and berry shades!

This Mrs Mia Wallace is such a classic colour and the liner is perfection, no dragging and defines the lip line with ease.

I'd suggest you all run out and get it asap if only for the beautiful packaging, they cost £15 for the lipstick and £13 for the liner. Money well spent if you ask me!


Did you buy anything from the Pulp Fiction collection? Do you love the reds closer to the winter months?


L xxx

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Palette

There's not a lot to say in this post because to be perfectly honest, just look at these bad boys.

LOOK AT THEM

The packaging itself is amazing as it is and when I randomly went to buy something from the Urban Decay counter and was shown these I promptly put my name down for them when they were allowed to sell them.
How on earth had this amazing collaboration escaped my notice??

I'm a huge Tarantino fan, its something that me and my brother actually agree on and having bought him the box set many years ago i still steal them now. 

The orange and red writing stands out on the black box and it all looks so striking I'm surprised I didn't snap up the entire collection. But having put my name down for the palette, the only product they were allowed to reserve and the others being sold on a first come first serve basis I legged it into Cardiff on the morning and snapped up the lipstick and liner to match. Oops!

Here's a sneak peek of what's to come, I do love it when they show a swatch of the colours inside and give their names. Names always make things better don't they??

Here's a close up of the text:

Inside is the card I always look forward to reading when purchasing a limited edition palette from UD. The tips and tricks are always good to follow and give you an idea what they colours were there for; if only for you to totally break the rules and do your own thing anyway/

Be Cool Honey Bunny.

The attention to detail, as always, with these collaboration products always astounds me but this time I've been completely blown away.
My brother loves the quote below and even he was slightly impressed with how cool it all was (and as a mixed martial arts fan make up REALLY isn't his thing).

I really did just marvel at it for a while before even opening it, the packaging was just too special. I'm not sure I could have designed it better myself, although the paper packaging does worry me for long term usage but only time will tell what that will be like.

I always love the inclusion of a mirror with these products, it's a lovely touch and means it's a lot easier to use them on the go and travel with them.

Here are the four shades with accompanying names and brush. I'm not sure what I think about the brush to be honest, the quality was better than i thought it would be from first glance but I still find them too small to be of any use. I'm sure I'll be grateful for it when using the palette on the go though and for touch ups it should come in handy.

Righteous was the main reason for me buying this palette. As a firm Theodora palette fan ( I use it EVERY DAY without fail) which was also limited edition I was beginning to get worried after hitting pan on the lightest colour called Broken. It's the perfect colour for me and after telling the lovely Haddie on the counter in the Cardiff store she showed me these.

It's not a perfect match but it will certainly fill the gap in the 'limited edition' section of my collection. Or something like that.

Righteous can be described as a light cream colour and is matte.

In fact all of these colours are quite similar to the Theodora palette and so that was how I justified it to myself really, as I know that I should use all of the colours in it almost every day.

Tyranny is a lovely warm brown and is very pigmented and also matte. I didn't think I'd like this one on me but again I was surprised and it blends with so much so easily.

Vengeance is a colour I love, described by Temptalia as a deep taupe brown matte satin, which is quite a mouthful really. The colour is amazing and similar to Theodora's Bewitch, though you need so little I'd be surprised if this ever runs out!

Furious and Anger is the only duo colour. Furious is similar to Venus from the Naked Basics palette and Anger is similar to Crave but has a slight shimmer added as they are both satin shades. 

I've been using Furious on the inner corner of my eye and Anger to line the outer corners and they've both worked really well.

Here are swatches:

You can see Righteous is a little less pigmented than the others, this was a little disappointing as it was the colour I was most excited about but nevertheless I'll just have to use more!

Furious can be seen below, a lovely white satin colour:

Swatched on the back of my hand you can see the colours a little better, But how does it look on the eye itself??

Below shows Righteous and Tyranny on the eye (left) and Vengeance in the right picture.

Above shows Furious and Anger applied also. Its extremely wearable for a limited edition palette and this surprises me as well as lots of other reviews I've read online.


I can see me wearing this a lot and I've already been wearing it to many outings; see below for a recent picture with the Mia Wallace liner and lipstick on also:

The longevity of the lipstick is phenomenal, but that's for another post.

What do you think of limited edition collaborations? Are you a Pulp Fiction fan?

Would you snap up the eyeshadow palette or another product in the range?

L xxx