Christmas Wish List

Hey there!

I believe that everyone should write lists. I'm a big believer in wishlists in particular as it gives you something to aim for in life.....right?!

A girl can dream, especially of products, ans especially of these products. Take a look at my Christmas wishlist, if  i get any one of these I'll be one happy girl!

Nars

It doesn't take much to guess what this beautiful palette is; the Virtual Domination palette has been blogged and tweeted countless times already and although my hand has hovered over the purchase button on Space NK many times I just haven't had the funds to buy it. not even my credit card was available after it was hacked and I unfortunately have had to wait for a few weeks for a replacement! Probably for the best! This contains 4 blushes, 2 limited edition and a beasty sized Laguna bronzer.

This blush and bronzer palette costs £45 but is worth £117 - need!

The Digital World Lip Coffre was another that caught my attention, the lighter coral and orange colours are exactly the colours I love and wear on a daily basis. So pretty, and so wearable!

This costs £32.

Charlotte Tilbury

I don't own a single thing from Charlotte Tilbury, probably as the prices are a little out of my league. However this is a wish list so money is no object right?!

This beautiful palette, mascara and liner will set you back a few pounds, £75 to be exact but look at those beautiful colours! They certainly have extensive pigmentation and have many fans. But still, £75 :|

These lipsticks are also from Charlotte Tilbury and will set you back £42. £21 isn't too bad for a lipstick and these colours are perfect for the spring summer time. I wear these kinds of colours all the time and they suit my colouring and seem to brighten my skin tone up. I'd love them!

Last but not least is this gorgeous rose gold brush set. I'd love to have these in my collection but this one really is a dream.
£240 would get you this set and in my current financial state I'd need a loan!

Hourglass

The Ambient Blush Palette contains three of the famous Infusion blushes from Hourglass that look so pretty with their marble effect. The patterns that are created are all individual which is a lovely touch and this would make a lovely gift also. It will set you back £56 but for three blushes it will suit many people and be a lovely item to travel with too.

Urban Decay

As if I could make it through without mentioning UD. The TEN 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil Set contains one full size Perversion liner with nine other never before created coloured liners with a range of finishes along with the infamous Grindhouse sharpener all for a pretty price of £35. That means they cost £3.50 each plus the sharpener for free, great value for great products.

What do you think of my wish list? What would you add to yours?

Send me links to them as I love reading about new releases and coveted products!

L xxx

Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park

Hello there!

It's no secret that I'm newly obsessed with Nars having kept my wishlist at bay for such a long time, the flood gates seem to have been opened. I can't even begin to tell you how many blushes I now want, not to mention their Virtual Domination palette and their lip products are also highly rated by myself. You can see my previous review on the infamous Cruella lip pencil here, and this review is on the Satin lip pencil Hyde Park.

I bought this from the Space NK website; I'd never seen it in reality and pretty much bought it because the shade looked like something I'd like and get a lot of wear out of and the name was appealing. Who doesn't love a London named product??

Hype Park is described as a 'cardinal red' which to me sounds a lot more red than this. I would say it's more of a berry toned red and whilst I haven't tried other lip pencils from the Satin range to compare it to, I loved the more hydrating and lip balm feel to it than was expected. you could easily wear this pencil as a wash of colour and top it up with lip balm, or layer it up which is my preferred way of wearing it.

It's a gorgeous colour for almost any skin tone and for me personally with my dark hair and pale skin it's an absolute winner for the upcoming winter season.

The pencil style is super easy to use especially on the go, you just need to make sure you have sharpened it recently as otherwise you'll be a bit stuck! It;s the only downside I can find to the pencils as a whole as on the go it can be difficult to find a sharpener and this is where a traditional lipstick would have a major advantage.

That said, they're easy to apply and the colour can be built up with a few layers leaving a lovely stain after a few hours of wear and I didn't find that it settled into lines too badly either, though this does always happen eventually.

The photo above shows the berry colour and below is the lip pencil on my lips:






In my personal opinion sometimes I feel I need an actual lip pencil to line and fill my lips as something this can be a bit translucent as you can see in the image above. I just feel this kind of colour and look requires a clean and defined line.
The colour however is one of my favourites and it's now one product that always seems to live in my handbag. I wore it to a wedding recently and loved it, was so easy to apply and was even appropriate in the day time:

In short, I love it. I definitely want more of the lip pencils from Nars now I know where I stand with finishes. The set from Space NK for Christmas, the Digital World Lip Pencil Coffret holds 5 of the lip pencils in a smaller size and I've definitely got my eye on it. 

It contains Cruella and also Iberico(intense matte coral), Yu (shocking pink with cool undertones), Descanso (tea rose with satin finish) and Torres del Paine (peach coral with satin finish). Cruella and Yu are part of their normal range whilst the others are limited edition. I need to get my hands on this set as Torres del Paine looks beautiful! 

Have you tried any of the Nars lip pencils? Is the gift set on your wishlist? What colour is your favourite?

L xxx

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella

Happy Friday lovely people!

I've got a lovely quiet(ish) weekend lined up where I'm meeting some old friends for lunch and aside from that it's going to be relaxation and bliss on the cards.....and a whole lot of catching up on tv! This new job has taken up a lot of my time doing extra reading and trying to keep up with my gym and classes so I'm looking forward to catching up with everything else.

A few weeks ago both myself and M nabbed ourselves one of the Space NK Gift With Purchase bundles that I haven't even begun to get through; free stuff is so much fun. But obviously we had to spend £150 to get said gifts and this became my opportunity to snap up some much raved about Nars products. I'd never used any whatsoever before this so had quite a wishlist and proceeded to cross some of them off; I've previously posted about the infamous Orgasm blush - post here - and now you can read my review of the nearly as famous Lip Pencils.

It didn't take much convincing for me to add this to my basket, Anna from VDM who I'm sure you all MUST be aware of always looks gorgeous wearing hers so as we are the same colouring it was a no brainer.

Cruella, as if I could leave it after seeing that name! Brings back all the memories of the oh so glamorous Ms Deville and the colour is perfectly fitting.

It's a matte lip pencil, there is also a satin and a velvet gloss lip pencil range (come back for a future review of a satin pencil also!) and so I snapped up one from each range for comparison purposes....obviously.

The pencils themselves are typical in NARS design with monochrome packaging but have the added advantage of having a coloured base; this would be great when choosing between nude, red, pink etc but may be problematic with differentiating between reds...however I don't own enough of them at this point to worry about that!

The Lip Pencils are super easy to use, I have used liner with this one as I have a similar colour to match it but they haven't bled a single time i've used them so are good enough to use without one. The colour is so pigmented and although the matte did feel quite dry on application compared to other lip products, it didn't actually dry my lips out any further.

Clearly they are easy to use, you just need a larger sharpener to get the pencil in (rumour has it UD's Grindhouse is the best - added to wishlist!) and it's so easy to apply the colour that you could even slick on a layer whilst on the bus - though you'll definitely need to check you are in the lines for a colour this bold!

So how does it look on?

These photos were taken with minimal make up apart from the lip pencil and I love the slightly vampy look!

I love the colour, it's a perfect red and I can see me wearing this a lot in future. Even though these photos were taken in natural day light the colour in reality did seem to be darker than the photos show but nevertheless you can see the finish.

I was really impressed by the wear time of these lip pencils too. I'm sure I went a good 6 hours without the need to reapply and that was through multiple meals/snacking/drinks and I think i reapplied purely for the feeling of knowing there was something on my lips!

I would fully recommend the matte range and am tempted to look at the other colours but must resist for the next month or so.....

The Matte Lip Pencils come in at £18 for 2.4g of product and are available in 21 colours.

Have you tried one of the matte lip pencils? What's your favourite colour? Any recommendations for future NARS purchases??

L xxx

Urban Decay 24/7 Lip Pencil and Revolution Lipstick*

Afternoon all!

We've got a joint review for you today. From our visit to Urban Decay's event a few weeks ago we were given a Revolution Lipstick and a 24/7 Lip Pencil both in the colour Native.

The Revolution Lipsticks are classed as 'Creamy, badass luxury' which sounds pretty awesome to begin with.
They are rich buttery lipsticks with the usual colour payoff you would expect from Urban Decay products.

The cool custom designed gunmetal outer case is very sturdy and looks really cool, giving you a badass looking lipstick. It's chunky, easy to find in your bag and unlikely to get scratched, battered and broken.

I love how they've got the UD logo stamped on the top of the case, it looks really cool and the font is pretty funky.

Native is a pale pink colour that would be perfect for day at work or night with smokey eyes.

The Pigment Infusion System which is unique to UD gives it 'super creamy texture, insane pigmentation and superior colour dispersion and extended wear'.
Maxi Lip defines and hydrates lips making them look plumper and fuller and they also contain a blend of jojoba oil, avocado oil, cocoas butter and shea butter to keep lips hydrated and soft.

The amount of lipstick in the tube is also pretty impressive, I can imagine as you only need one swipe of product each time this would last quite a while.

Any lipstick is best paired with its respective lip pencil, and obviously having matching lip pencils UD have solved this problem completely.

Native lip pencil is also a pale pink colour matches the lip stick identically.
The 24/7 Glide on Lip Pencils stay put through anything, defining your lip line and priming your lips for the colour to be applied on top.

They are long lasting, waterproof and creamy, never dragging along your lips.

Having the barrel of the pencil shaded the exact same colour as the product makes it super easy to find them in your make up bag and they don't half look pretty as well! Imagine the rainbow of reds and pinks you could have!

Do what do they look like when used together?

Below I have applied the lip pencil onto my lips and you can see that its a really creamy formula and provides the perfect base for a lipstick or gloss to be applied over the top.

The above picture has the Revolution lipstick in Native applied and you can see how creamy and hydrating this is with an amazing colour pay off. It lasted really well on the lips too and I had a few hours of the hydrating creamy finish before eating took most of it away but the colour still stayed on my lips.

The 24/7 Glide On Lip Pencils are £13 and are available in 16 colours, the Revolution Lipsticks are £15 and are available in 22 different colours.
Looking at the range I'd love to try some brighter ones for the summer, Streak is a gorgeous coral pink and Obsessed is a super girly bright baby pink and I'd love them!

Have you seen the new colour ranges? What do you think of lip pencils?

L xxx

Hey All

Hope you're having a great weekend. I'm just enjoying a post gym chill out. This weekend has flown by for me!

It's fair to say L and I both love Urban Decay but until we went to a recent product showcase I wouldn't have thought of Urban Decay for lip products. I wear one of my Naked palettes everyday and don't think I could be without them.

I love the gun metal and purple packaging of the lipstick and the metal means it's robust in my handbag. So far so good as well with the lid not coming off! Lipstick covered in bag fluff is something no one wants!

For me lately I'm more of a bright lipstick type of person so this colour is a little pale on me. I have been using it more this week though as after dying my hair pink some reds are hard to pull off.

Native offers a perfect nude pink shade. I do love this colour for date nights too as it doesn't look too over the top. As with all Urban Decay products the pigmentation is amazing. One swipe gives opaque creamy comfortable colour. It seems to melt onto the lips so doesn't drag.

Lip liners are definitely lacking in my collection so a nude one was much needed. I love that it matches the lipstick. I have also found it works with other nudes I have which is great. For everyday I don't wear lip liners. I just can't sacrifice that time in the morning. I do love the clean look it gives to a lipstick though and how much I can define my cupids bow when using it.

These two pair together amazingly and with all Urban Decay products have great pigmentation. I love pairing it with Beso Naked gloss to warm the tone up and give a full glossy finish. I can't wait to try more of the lipsticks now and I'm already eyeing up the amazing Venom!

Love M

xxx

Urban Decay Product Showcase

Morning lovelies!

Hope you're not feeling too delicate this morning, I went out Friday night and came home at 5am and was feeling less than perky yesterday so today is going to be 100% productive!

Starting the day off were writing about our trip into Cardiff Debenhams the other evening where we met the lovely girls at the Urban Decay counter for a few hours of make up chat, playing with products and generally having a fun time. There were only 6 of us there at the meeting which was lovely as although we'd met the majority of the other bloggers (Georgina, Nina and Helen) it was great to meet Shelley too and get to know everyone a little better.

The main focus of the events was Naked 3 which I'm sure all of you have seen and heard about over the past few weeks and it is obviously a gorgeous must have palette for everyone due to its super flattering rose gold shades. However we were also there to check out the new Naked lip glosses, the Naked Skin foundations and loose powder as well as their BB cream, B6 spray and so many others!

It was like a sleepover party with all of your friends bringing their make up around, my hand was covered in swatches and I managed to get it all over me in an attempt to try everything...oops!

The Naked lipglosses were a big hit with both of us, the packaging is gorgeous with the cut out design and the range of colours is pretty good. My favourite one was Streak purely because I'm a coral girl at heart but I can honestly say that every colour is wearable and beautiful! Some are more shimmery than others, some have more colour than others and some are just beautifully nude. M's was Beso which she has already mentioned in a post. She's more of a plum/dark lip colours.

I'm sure you'll be seeing posts from us when we've been using them a lot more as they're so versatile and have so many good ingredients and effects that they warrant their own post!

What I love is when brands make things completely unique, and on a beautiful stand at the corner of the counter was a selection of cupcakes each called a different shade of the Naked lipglosses and I ended up with Walk of Shame....were they trying to say something? Haha. The icing was amazing and if I hadn't have been going for tapas for a friend's birthday I'd have taken home another!

It was great fun to play around with the products and M had her brows done by the lovely Haddie (isn't her blue hair amazing?!). It was lovely to see all of the kits as I'd never seen the brow box before nor the Naked Skin loose powder and I'm fast becoming a loose powder fan!

One of the items I couldn't wait to have a go of was Naked Flushed. I know its been out for a while but I still hadn't had chance to have a go with it and I can certainly tell you it's a beautiful palette!
I often stay at friends and travel at the mo and carrying a bronzer, blusher and highlighter separately can be a pain but this is all in one and perfect for any occasion. The blusher and bronzer are so pigmented you need a tiny amount and the highlighter has been so finely milled that its like a veil on your skin, lots of love for it!

Also on hand were the new Naked pencils, each matching a palette and they're all double ended which is a really great idea. Using their brushes was also a really good opportunity as although I've tried the eyeshadow brushes in the palettes I'd never tried the Optical blurring brush which I've heard so much about and its gorgeous!

Unfortunately as the time our goodie bags were stuck on a palette inside a lorry so we had to go back to collect them the day after. But who cares about the wait the goodie bag was so unbelievably generous that we're both still a bit shocked at the contents!

We were super lucky and we're given 6 full sized products including 2 Naked lipglosses, a Revolution lipstick, 24/7 Glide on Lip Pencil, Naked Flushed palette and their B6 Complexion Prep Spray. Totally overwhelmed!

We both also picked up a few goodies on the night; M bought herself Naked 3 and I bought the 24/7 blending brush and the Naked Basics eye pencil and have been loving the results with them.

I'm sure you'll see posts from both of us in the future with reviews on all the products. We cannot believe how generous they were to us and how much fun the evening was too. Knowing that Ud products are so amazing anyway (we now own 7 of their palettes between us including the whole Naked family) we will guaranteed be back for some more in the future!

Do you love UD? Have you picked up anything from the Naked range? Which is your favourite palette?

Thanks so much to Haddie and Ffion for a wonderful evening, it was a pleasure to meet you both and you've given us some great tips and tricks!

L and M xxx