Lipstick: Flawless by Sonya

Hey so I thought I'd share with you my new favourite lipsick! It's the Shade 406 Watermelon by Sonya. The first thing that appealed to me was the lovely pinky colour followed by the nice subtle vanilla scent it has about it. 

As the product is Aloe Vera based and all natural it is very kind to the lips and moisturizes very well indeed! Another note-worthy fact is it's great staying power. It lasts much longer than I ever cared to give it credit for!

At £16.64 it's an upper-end lipstick but based on it's longevity and lipcare, not to mention lovely packaging I wouldn't expect the little tube to be anything less :) Also it comes in 12 great shades!...I already have my eye on the Cherry Red ;)

You can see the full range of lipsticks and other makeup items from the Flawless by Sonya brand here. 

L'Oreal Paris GlamShine Stain Splash

Hello!

I've never been the kind of girl to keep a gloss in my bag at all times. In fact I've never really enjoyed wearing lip gloss. I dislike sticky glosses and it usually results in my long hair being stuck to my lips! Nice!

So, over the last couple of years I've avoided glosses like the plague and gone for lipsticks. And although you can get a pretty decent shine from nourishing lipsticks these days...I never find them to quite give the same effect as a gloss.

When the YSL Glossy Stains came out and received major HYPE I really wanted to try one. But with the rather expensive price tag I couldn't quite commit to buying one, especially as I was unsure as to whether I'd get on with it (with it being a gloss and all).

Sooo when L'Oreal brought out a similar concept I was quite excited. At £7.99 it certainly won't break the bank and I figured if I didn't like it I'd give it away or something.

This gloss is certainly a KEEPER! I absolutely can't get enough of it! It's texture is pretty thin and so I usually apply a few coats for good measure. It goes on like a dream, very smooth, and it tastes/smells delicious with a nice fruity essence!

I have the shade Romy which is a rather pale pink. It goes on quite sheer but once it settles on your lips the colour begins to come out a little more, giving your lips a nice subtle glossy pink finish.

It is definitely not 'sticky' but like a sticky gloss it has really good staying power! I've applied it 2 hours previous to going to the gym before and after my workout I've noticed that the hint of pink is still there!

I'm really impressed and I'm certainly looking to purchase more of these beauties...maybe in a darker shade next time! :)

Thanks to this gloss I have now got rid of my little lip gloss phobia and may just have to invest in a YSL one :)

Travel home make-up

Hello lovelies :)

So, last week was half term in Nottingham which meant I got to go home...see my mum & dad and all that :P

Above is what I call travelling light. In fact, I did take more makeup home but I decided to only include what I actually used whilst there!

I love my Paper Planes by Disaster Designs Wash Bag...it's not only cute in the form of a parcel but it's rather large so it can hold a lot. I bought mine here. 

I'll start with essential brushes. 

From the left is my Mac 129se which I love for applying blusher; 

my Sigma f82 rounded top kabuki great for foundation; 

another Mac 129se to apply my face powder; 

a cheap angled-eye brush for my brow kit; 

and finally the brilliant Mac 217 blending brush for eye shadow.

Face stuff.

From the left... No More Shine Setting Spray by Skindinavia. This is one of my holy grail products. A must have to keep my makeup in place and take away that powdery finish. I ordered mine from the Skindinavia site but it's cheaper here.

Pressed powder by 17. It does the job and it's pretty compact :)

Enzymion moisturizer from Lush. I love the citrus-y scent, it's brill for oily skin and helps prep my face for makeup. 

A Bobbi Brown blush in Slopes. Pretty colour.

bareMinerals Matte foundation. I used this the most whilst home...on those days when I wanted a lighter finish.

Benefit's Porefessional. This is a brill foundation primer...however I only used it once as I find it doesn't work too well with mineral foundation.

Chanel Perfection Lumiere...I love this foundation A LOT. However I only needed this heavier duty foundation on the one occasion whilst home.

Lastly, Mac's Studio Finish concealer. Very important for me, especially with my recent acne outbreak!

Eyes.

The Naked palette by Urban Decay. Enough said. 

Max factor's Clump Defy mascara. I'm enjoying using this purple tube atm!

Urban Decay's 24/7 glide on eye pencil. I'm all about the black eyeliner and this one is a beauty. It has serious staying power. Next to it, I also took home my liquid eyeliner by Rimmel which I used on the same occasion as my Chanel foundation (I went pubbing it :P)

Benefit's Brow Zings has been a part of my essential makeup for over a year now and I can't imagine ever not using it!

Liiiips!

As you can see I was quite strict with myself in terms of lip products. 

Generally I just used Lush's lip scrub in Popcorn flavour. This is simply delicious and it helps keep my lips nicely exfoliated. 

Afterwards I'd put on a bit of my Pomegranate lippy lip balm, from The Body Shop, to moisturise my lips and keep them nice and soft.

Finally, on more special occasions, I applied my Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain on top to add a pop of colour. I love the build-able red colour that the shade Romantic gives!

...And that's a wrap!