Getting into Lip Liner!

Hello!! So I have never really been bothered with lip liner in the past. To be honest I think I just didn't get how to apply them or what they were for! However I started to become more conscious that some parts of my lips weren't very pigmented and someone suggested to try lip liner to fix this!

As I'm a lip liner newbie I bought some fairly cheap drug store products. I'll briefly take you through them.

GOSH Velvet Touch Lip liner 'Cardinal Red' - £4.99 Superdrugs - Lovely cranberry red shade- I can see why they called it velvet as the application is so smooth! Added bonus - it's waterproof!

KIKO Ultra Glossy Lip pencil 'Shade 602' - £1 KIKO store - A pinky brown but the colour is more sheerer than the others (which is why it's harder to see in the pic!). It's also got a really nice buttery texture.

MAXFACTOR Colour Elixir Lip Liner 'Brown n Bold' - £4.99 Superdrugs - A dark woody brown with a much more grittier texture than the others mentioned above.

How I applied it!
I was going for a fairly natural lip so I used some clear Nivea lip butter (the Macademia one - yum!) with the MAXFACTOR liner on the top lip and the KIKO liner on the bottom lip. I don't know about most people but my lips are different colours so that's why I went for two different shades.

 Below is the finished look!

I don't know if it really comes across in the pic but I think the lip liner has made my lips look more fuller and defined. I really like this look for a work/school day. I do think the MAXFACTOR lip liner does the best job at giving that defined look. Both do seem to disappear after an hour so maybe waterproof is the way to go!

Thanks for reading!! Do you wear lip liner? What is your favourite brand? Do you wear it bare or with a bit of lippy?

Summer Favourites!!

Hello!! This is gonna be a post about item's I have loved this summer and find myself using quite frequently!

Kleenex Shine Absorbing Sheets - £1.50 on Amazon  (Probably cheaper elsewhere)
For us oily girls (and boys!) this is a must! I have a full review & pictures here but basically these are blotting sheets which you just dab on the oily parts of your skin to get rid of any shine. They are very effective and small enough to carry around with you!


Body Shop Anti Perspirant Deodorants - £4 each
 I have these in white musk and aloe, both perfect for hot summer days! The white musk is more scented whereas the aloe doesn't seem to have any scent at all. They are both roll-ons and a great size for carrying in your hand bag. I found other brands like Dove didn't last too long on me but these are top quality and last all day.

Clinique Cheek Pops in shade 'Ginger Pop' - £16.50
This has been my summer go to for blush. I did a full review & pictures here but in short it's a beautiful coral shade that is quite transparent when you first apply. I love this because you can build it up for when you really want a bold look or you can apply it more lightly for when you want something more natural.

KIKO Kiss Balm in Blackcurrent (£5.90) and Carmex Moisterising Lip Balm (£1.50)
I've put these two together as I've fully reviewed them before. The Carmex Moistering lip balm (full review here) is great for curing dry lips. The KIKO balm (full review here) is a lip stick/ lip balm hybrid that gives a vibrant colour but still feels light and creamy on application. Most importantly, it doesn't dry your lips out!


Radox Bath Smoothies Spirit Booster - £1 at Savers (Bargain!)
This has got to be the most AMAZING smelling product you can put in your bath! It's like a fruity cocktail blend of pomegranates, raspberries and all the summer berry fruits! It's very intense and basically like the standard Radox foam baths except it's creamier in texture. Your bath will thank you for this!

Nars Brow Perfector in shade 'Suriname' - £16.50
Absolutely love this! I have a lot of gapping in my eyebrows which makes it look uneven and just really untidy. This product really transforms them into lovely full brows. It's got a really hard gritty texture and it's just great at faking little hairs on the brow line. It's one of those pencils that you just twist instead of sharpening so very easy to just take with you and touch up during the day.

I'll also add that the lady at the NARS counter, Milton Keynes was so helpful and really took her time to explain the product and how to apply it. Not trying to promote NARS but when you receive good service I think you should tell others!




Hope you enjoyed my summer favourties. Comment and let me know what are your favourites this summer!

Tinted Lip Balms

Hello Lovelies!

So I'm not really a lipstick fan as I normally find them very drying on my lips. Tinted Lip Balms therefore seemed the way forward to get both colour and moisture! I've chosen to review two fairly purse friendly brands. The Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me and Peach Kiss which retails at £3 each (but I managed to get them buy one get one half price at Superdrugs!) and the KIKO Kiss Balm in Blackberry which retails at a pricier £5.90.

Maybelline Baby Lips

The Cherry Me is well named  as at first glance  it looks like an intense cherry red colour and smells exactly like those cherry drops we all use to get as kids! When applied to lips the colour seems a bit more toned down and resembles more of a Pinky Fuscia. I really like it as it compliments my medium dark skin tone well.

The Peach Kiss doesn't really add much colour to my lips. It's quite a nude shade with a little shimmer so I find it just gives my lips an added gloss. It does smell lovely though, kinda like a peach scnapps!

In terms of moisture I have to say these two are a winner! The colour may not last for long (perhaps an hour?) but the soft smoothness it gives you really does!


KIKO Kiss Balm

At first glance I will definitely say this colour is probably a little light to be described as blackberry but resembles more of a pomegranate colour (the top pic best reflects the colour). On the lips, it comes out very pinky and feels more like a lipstick than the Baby Lips. It leaves your lips quite smooth afterwards so there's no drying out effect  and the colour seems to last a little longer than Baby Lips.

The swatches from top to down are KIKO Blackberry, Baby Lips Cherry Me and the last was meant to be Baby Lips Peach Kiss but it was difficult to capture this shade as its more of a sheer nude gloss.

I would say that overall the Baby Lips win on softness but the KIKO Kiss Balm is definitely more pigmented. Neither are sticky so you dont need to worry about stray hairs getting stuck to your lips and both are good as little lip tops up throughout the day!

Thanks for reading! Have you tried the Baby Lips or KIKO Kiss Balm? What are your favourite shades? 

Kiko vs Collection Eyeliner!

Hello lovely readers!

So, eyeliner is one of those everyday cosmetics to help make your eyes have that extra oomph! I love using felt pen liners rather then gel or liquid as I find it gives me more control and still adds the same definition. For this review I have decided to use two purse friendly felt tip eyeliners. The Kiko Ultimate Pen Long Wear Eyeliner which retails around £6.90 and the Collection Extreme 24 hour Felt Tip Liner which normally retails around £2.99


9 am - I put my usual eyeliner on in the morning before heading off to work. I haven't worn any eye shadows or eye primers so that I am purely looking at the lasting power of the two products. The right hand side is the Kiko liner and the left is Collection.

About 7.30pm -  Bearing in my mind I have quite greasy lids (apologies for the scary pic!), by the end of the day I was surprised to see that the more expensive Kiko eyeliner kind of shrivelled up whereas my cheaper collection eyeliner seemed to remain largely in place. The smudging from the Kiko one is probably due to my greasy lids more than the liner but overall the Collection one seems to have a better lasting power!



What are your  favourite eyeliners?