Loved Up Lippies

Everyone loves a bright lipstick don't they? Well what better reason do you need to break them out but Valentines!
Today I thought I'd show you my favourite pink and red lipsticks that are perfect for the rosemantic weekend that's upon us!

Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple: Everyone has heard of these by now, and knows how fantastic a product they are. If you're the type of person who usually shys away from red lipsticks, this is the perfect way to slowly dip your toe in the water. With the colour of a lipstick, but the comfort and moisture of a lip balm, these can be built up to a really strong red colour, or can be worn more sheerly with just a wash of colour over the lips. If you're a pink girl rather than a red, Sorbet is a nice alternative. These are 11.20 in Boots and all usual Revlon stockists.

Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipstick No 20: The formula of these lipsticks is without a doubt the most comfortable I've ever worn. Really smooth to apply and not at all drying when on the lips. This dark pink is the perfect shade, not too light that it leaves your lips too pale, but not too dark either. These is a matte formula of these lipsticks aswell, but I personally prefer this formula, but hey we're all different! At 6.99 they're really affordable and you can pick up a couple of them for less than the price of one MAC one!

Catrice Ultimate Colour Lipstick in Pinkadilly Circus: This shade from Catrice is a slightly more muted shade of pink  than the Rimmel offering, and so is a little easier to wear. Its a really pigmented lipstick that offers lots of shine at the same time. The lasting power isn't the greatest, but I'm not too bothered about that because I tend to top up my lipsticks a lot, purely out of habit I think at this stage. They are a bargain price at only 5.49 each, and again there is a great selection of colours and finishes to choose from. There are some of them that have a slightly frosty finish, so I tend to steer clear of those ones myself.

Wet N Wild Megalast Lip Colour in Red Velvet: I was so delighted that Wet N Wild finally arrived to Ireland, and needless to say it wasn't long before I hotfooted it to town to pick up a few bits, the lipsticks being one of the first things I wanted to try. Red Velvet is a beautiful coral red colour, so again if true red's ain't your thang, this is a great one to try. I even wore this on Monday, just because! The only thing I would advise with these is to make sure your lips are in tip top condition if you're planning on wearing any of the megalast lip colours. The formula is slightly drying after a few hours wear, and it does tug at the lips when applying. But just do it bit by bit and you'll be fine. Slow and steady wins the race and all that! ;) It really is worth giving it a go, it is only 2.99 after all!

Sleek Pout Polish in Powder Pink: This is a product I recently rediscovered in my collection.This is a great product for those who are slightly less adventurous when it comes to lipsticks etc but still want to wear lip products. The pout polishes are a conditioning lip balm that offer a slight hint of colour with lots of shine while providing your lips with lots of moisture and nourishment. It also contains an SPF of 15 which is always a bonus with lip products as a lot of us forget that our lips need to be treated with the same care as our skin. Powder Pink is a nice natural 'your lips but better' colour, (I hate that phrase by the way), it just adds a nice slight hint of pink and plenty of shine! It also smells like Vanilla! Again they're not expensive, coming in at a cheap and cheerful 5.49! They are available from Sleeks own website, or our very own Cloud10Beauty. I have heard some Sleek is available in Boots in Liffey Valley, but as I'm the other side of the country I can't say for sure!

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Big Bang: This is exactly as is says on the tin, a bang in your face red colour! Its the perfect shade of red to match a nice and simple eye look with just some black eyeliner  and lashings of mascara! The apocalips are one of my most loved products from 2013, a seriously pigmented lip colour that lasts for ages! Like seriously, no matter what you do these WILL NOT budge for hours! If this isn't your cup of tea, then try Stellar! It leans slightly more to the coral red side, but I really love it, its a real statement lip with little to no effort. (Although take your time applying, otherwise it can be a little messy,).I have just seen that these are on offer in Boots right now for 5.95, usually they cost 7.95, so you'll save 2 euro for yourself, which you could put towards buying yourself something else nice in Boots! ;)

So they are just some of the shades and products I have in my collection that I may or may not be rocking next weekend, depending on what plans my boyfriend has up his sleeve.. What about you lovely ladies? Any exciting plans?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Top 5 Lip Products of 2013

Hey lovelies, hope you're all enjoying your Sunday! I myself went in to town shopping, (bold, especially seen as I'm trying to save money), I don't feel too bad though because I didn't spend a huge amount, just a few bits in Penney's!
Today's post in the Top 5 of 2013 series is my 'Top 5 Lip Products', and I have to say this was a really difficult one for me, because in the last year I did get more adventurous with lip products, and I came across loads that I really liked, but in the end I narrowed down, and went with the ones that I just reach for continuously. More often than not there is always 2 or 3 of these in my handbag at the same time! Am I the only one this happens too?

So onto the little beauties!!
From left to right we have:
Essence Long Lasting Lipstick in Cotton Candy:
Catrice Ultimate Colour Lipstick in Hey Nude:
Rimmel London Apocalips in Apocalyptic:
Rimmel London Colour Rush Balm in Keep Mauving:
and Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie.

Essence Long Lasting Lipstick in Cotton Candy: I picked up a couple of these on a whim earlier in the year, and I was blown away. Everybody knows' that Essence is a fairly budget brand, and a lot of the products can be hit and miss. Not these babies. They only cost 2 to 3 euro, and for the price they are amazingly pigmented and so creamy! So much so that I picked up another two after this one! This colour is Cotton Candy, and its a lovely bright pink colour, perfect for spring!

                                         (swatch of Essence Cotton Candy)

                                                                                                                                                   Catrice Ultimate Colour Lipstick in Hey Nude:
 I really make a habit of picking things up on a whim, (damn you Penney's), but that is what happened with these guys aswell. I had wanted to try a nude lipstick but didn't want to spend a whole lot of money,  for fear I'd end up with 'concealer lips'. Thank god though it didn't happen. I was so impressed with this, its so so comfortable on my lips, not in the slightest bit drying, in fact you wouldn't know you were even wearing a lipstick! I did pick up a couple more of them, and I picked up 2 matte ones, but even those aren't as drying as some other matte formula's. The colour of this is so nice, (see below), it just adds a slight colour to the lips and a little bit of shine, and its a bargain aswell at under 5 euro!                

                                              Swatch of Catrice Hey Nude



Rimmel Colour Rush Balm in Keep Mauving:
You can always count on Rimmel to come up trumps when it comes to trends in the make up world, and they've definitely done that with these lip balm crayons. I picked it up one day in a red colour, and it packed a real punch when it came to pigmentation! For a balm the colour payoff is excellent, and they are so moisturising its unbelievable. This mauve colour is great for every day wear, as its natural but there's a hint of pink in there to stop it from being too boring. Pricewise they're only about 7 euro, which is a bargain!

                                      Rimmel Colour Rush Balm in Keep Mauving    

Rimmel Apocalips In Apocalyptic:
Silly me forgot to take a picture of my own one... Silly me, but at least I remembered to swatch it! Everyone and their mother has heard of these, and I've mentioned them before so I'm not going to go on about them too much. But I really love these! For a while I was frustrated with them because I couldn't get the application right. I was applying them more like a lip gloss, which is not what they are! Once I realised that and applied them slowly and precisely like a lipstick I got to love them! Again they're a great price at only 7.95 (I think), so its worth giving them a go!

Rimmel Apocalips in Apocalyptic  (far right)

Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie: 

 Turns out I forgot to take a picture of my lip butter aswell.... Ah!!! I'm really slipping up today ladies, apologies! I don't need to say too much about these either, because they are so well known from various blogs etc... I have the lip butters in 3, maybe 4 colours, and this is the one I turn to regularly, especially in the winter. There's nothing I can say about these that hasn't been said already, super soft and buttery on the lips, amazing colour payoff and pigmentation, what's not to love! Well... The price is the only thing I don't love as much. Its more on the high end of the drugstore at 11 euro.... But none the less, they are lovely products, especially if you're in the market for a bright lipstick these are especially great because you can start off with applying them quite sheerly, and build them up! 

Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie (2nd from right)

So that's it for my Top 5 Lip Products....

Have you any different ones?

Thanks for reading..

Alisha xxx

The Battle of the Lip Lacquers!

This year it seemed like the 'it' product was lip lacquers. Rimmel set the beauty world alight with the release of the much anticipated Apocalips, and since then many other brands have jumped on bored with their tuppence worth.
Recently I went into Boots, and after picking up two products that I had my eye on for ages, (more on these later), I had to find a 3rd item to make up my 3 for 2, (which is a harder task than you'd think in Boots believe it or not), I ended up choosing this Colour Pro Lip Lacquer from Collection, as I haven't tried much from the brand.
After having used both offerings from each brand, I figured it would be nice to do a post comparing the two, as considering they're both meant to be lip lacquers, they should both work in the same way, right? Well lets find out!

Rimmel Apocalips: Rimmel say that these provide 'The intense rich colour of a lipstick, enhanced by a satin smooth shine', and I have to say they do deliver on everything they say!  At first I wasn't very taken with these. Perhaps it was the unusual texture, or the fact they were very hard to use without making a mess, and because I bought them in all the bright bold colours, it always ended up that I left the house looking like I did my make up in the dark. Epic fail. However, after finally getting to grips with these, and figuring out how to apply them without looking like a bad drag act, (actually a drag act would probably still have done it better than me), I love them! So much so that I had bought 6 out of the 8 colours available at the time in them! The texture of these are real creamy, and packed full of pigment. They just feel so comfortable on the lips, and after the initial wet feeling upon application, they do dry to a nice glossy finish. I myself personally do find that they wear a bit after eating or drinking, but even so they do still leave a slight stain on the lips, particularly the stronger colours. My personal favourites of the bunch are Stellar, which is a fab coral red colour, and Apocalips, a lovely deep pink colour which I love for nights out! I have been tempted to wear it for work somedays, but I haven't been brave enough to do it yet... But someday! I'll pop in some swatches of these below so you can see the colours and texture's for yourselves!  The packaging of these is also something a bit different, Rimmel really made the effort to make sure it suited the name of the product! These released earlier in the year with just 8 colours in the collection, which isn't bad really, but now they've upped that to 13!! They are priced at 7.95 each and are available in Boots and your local Rimmel stockists!

Collection Colour Pro Intense Lip Lacquer: Collection is another drugstore brand that is well known with bloggers, probably most for its Lasting Perfection Concealer. I'm yet to try that however, so on a whim when in Boots the last day, I decided to pick up a product I hadn't heard much about from the brand, just to see were they a good all rounder brand. I picked up the colour 3, which first of all is a bit disappointing that they don't actually have names for these, personally I just think that the number only is a bit boring. Regardless, I picked up the colour I thought I'd wear most, which is a nice bright bubblegum pink, which strangely is something I don't have in my collection! Collection say that these leave a 'lacquer like finish for the evening or a subtle sheen for day time wear'. First of all, the texture is really really different to that of the Apocalips. Its sticky upon initial application, and just remains that way for the length it remains on the lips. I applied some about an hour ago, maybe more, and my lips are still sticky! Now I  don't have a problem with that, but its just something to note incase you don't like that in a lip product. Colour wise, they are pigmented, but nowhere near as much as the Apocalips, (or maybe its just the colour I chose, I don't know). Again I'll pop in a swatch below so you can see for yourselves. I also find it hard to apply these, not in the same way as the Apocalips, but more in the sense that the applicator on these nearly drags across your lips and doesn't disperse the product very well. Really to me, these are just a highly pigmented lip gloss. A lip lacquer to me should be somewhat similar to a lipstick, but in a liquid form, and I'm afraid to say that this doesn't meet that definition for me. Packaging wise, there's nothing very different about this product for me, it just looks like a standard lip gloss or lip product. Another downside with this is there's just 4 colours! They are priced at 6.49 from Boots.

Overall I was fairly disappointed with the Collection offering. I did have high hopes for it, and had imagined it to be a lot creamier than it turned out to be... It just is a big sticky thumbs down from me, but seen as I got it for free in the 3 for 2 I can't be too upset. If you are looking to try a lip lacquer from the drugstore, I think at the moment the Rimmel ones are probably the best ones to try! And there not expensive, so if at the end of the day you're not a fan there's no harm done.

                                        Rimmel Apocalips in Apocalyptic and Stellar

                                       Collection Colour Intense Lip Lacquer in Shade 3
So that's it guys, have you tried either of these?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

A little haul.....

So on Friday I decided to head into town to pick up some bits for holidays. However this was a complete and utter flop as most of the summer clothes were sold forever ago, and so I ended up picking up a few winter bits! After that I then ventured to probably my favourite shop in the world.... Boots! And this happened:

Ya, I know, I know I know, I didn't really need any of it! But it was buy one, get second half off in Boots, and any girl that loves her beauty knows that's not the kinda offer you pass up!
There was a couple of things that I really really wanted, but the rest then I just decided I'd like to try because I've read a lot of reviews on them and wanted to give them a go myself!
First up is the much raved about 'Dream Fresh BB Cream' from Maybelline. Its only in recent months I've started to try Maybelline products, after trying the infamous 'Colour Tattoo's'. Miss Budget Beauty loves this stuff, so I'm looking forward to trying it for days when I don't want a full coverage make up. It was 11.95 but it also has an SPF of 30, so its like a double product really... Right???

Next up is again a much raved about product from Maybelline. The '24 hour colour tattoo' in 'Metallic Pomegranate'. I have been dying to try this colour for ages as it'll be a perfect base for burgundy looks and what not in winter, but unfortunately I've briefly tried it out and its not living up to the hype! It just doesn't come out as pigmented as it looks in the jar, but I'll hold back a proper opinion on it until I've given it fair use! With the current offer I got this for about 3.95 I think! Bargain!

The next thing I then picked up was the newest addition to the Rimmel foundation line, the 'Stay Matte Liquid Mouse Foundation'. I've tried this out already, (I've very little self restraint), and I have to say I really like it! The coverage is brilliant, and even after a full day at work it was still perfect. My only bug bear is that I tend to have drier skin in winter, so it may not be suitable for drier skinned ladies, but possibly with a good moisturiser it may be ok! Its also a great price at only 7.95! 

My next purchase that I got for half price is a goody! Recently make up stands far and wide have been bombarded with versions of the Clinique 'Chubby Sticks'. So I decided to pick up Rimmel's newest offering! I cant remember the exact shade name, but as you can see from the packaging, its red! I thought when I picked up that it was going to be a sheer, buildable, balm type, but its actually not! Its really pigmented and not balmy at all! Not that its a bad thing. This again came in around the 3.95 mark at half price, how could I refuse that!

The main thing I went in for was another one of the Kate Moss lipsticks for Rimmel. I have one of each formula, the red tube being the matte formula, and the black tube being the more glossy of the two. I had seen this amazing pink colour, but any stand I went to didn't have it.. Until I went to Boots of course! Its an amazing hot pink colour, that looks to have a slight shimmer to it, I cant wait to wear it on a night out! This was 6.95 full price, but I think this was the last item I got at half price so again around 3.50! (Sorry but my laptop is refusing to let me rotate the picture) :(

And lastly, I was trying to decide my last couple of purchases, when the apocalips caught my eye. In different shades! That's right! Rimmel have launched some new shades, I'm assuming for autumn/winter, but who knows! I decided to pick up the shade 'Aurora' which is a lovely muted reddish burgundy shade, and is perfect for day wear, unlike some other reds which are very in your face for the workplace! But this is perfect! It was 7.95, but again if you pick it up with something a bit more expensive, you'll get it for less than 4 euro! 

So that my lovely ladies was my haul! My poor boyfriend nearly fainted when he saw the amount I spent on make-up, but I do the same quite regularly when he tells me about parts he's bought for his car!

Thanks for reading,

Alisha xxx