Tips for Finding the Right Shade of Lipstick!

Finding the right lipstick shade can be daunting when you're faced with a whole counter of ranging colors, but don't let that scare you. The first thing you must do to help figure out what shades best suit you, is to pick a day where you're not in a rush and visit your favorite beauty counter. From there you can learn how to test different colors and see which ones suit you more and look really flattering for future purchases. These are just some tips and guidelines! You don't necessarily have to follow them as in beauty and fashion there really are no rules, but if you're struggling to find a lipstick that is sophisticated and matches you, this is a good place to start.

TIPS:

• According to Makeup artist, Bobbi Brown, the shade that generally flatters you the most is one or two shades darker than your natural lip color. When you go to your beauty counter, test a few out and see which ones are one or two shades darker. 
• If you normally don't go to MAC, Chanel, Dior (etc.) and you generally opt for drugstore or supermarket lipsticks like at walmart, you know that most of the time there isn't a tester. Hold up the color of the shade on the box near your lips in front of a mirror (try to do so in sunlight). It's not the most accurate way, but you could always just say the lipstick gave you an allergic reaction and return it if it ends up not to your liking (works like a charm...they normally send it back to the manufacturer, so don't think that they're going to repackage it or anything like that..ew!)
•  Now, when picking a red lipstick the whole pick two shades darker trick doesn't really work. To find an awesome lipstick, it's best to go based off of skintone. Pink Skinned girls should get cherry red, olive skin can wear fire-engine red, while those with darker skin look best in deep reds.
• To pick the right nude color, keep in mind that you want to go relatively close to your natural pigmentation. Great blog-post on how to get your perfect nude color here!
• To apply really bright and daring colors like hot pink, red, and orange, it's best to use a lipbrush!
• To keep lipstick last longer, get a lipliner as a base and fill in your lips before using the lipstick.
• If you find a lipstick you hate, try mixing it with other lipsticks you have. You can come up with a really great color just by mixing. To tone down bright lipstick, you could put a darker liner underneath.
• Lipstick can also be used for cheek stains! If you find a really pretty rosy color, this can act as a blush! Perfect for spring-time or when you're just running out of the house!

Based on Skin Tone:
Women with Fair Skin look great in nudes in a slight apricot shade, light corals, and pinks. They should stay away from browns, because those can look drab!
 Women with Medium Skin look great in roses, mauves, and berries. To pick a nice red if you are Medium Skin toned, opt for a deep burgundy! 
Women with Dark Skin look great in in browns and purples. For daytime, try a light caramel shade, while at night time wear a deep plum or wine color!

Any questions you can message me or leave in the comments below!
hope this helped :)

xx

Valentines featuring Revlon Liquid Lipstick

Hello everyone!

Well considering I'm very single I didn't have a Valentines this year, but me and my friends went out for Pizza, so I decided to do a red lip, something I hardly ever ever do

Revlon Colorstay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in Top Tomato - £8.99

I have a love/hate relationship with this 'lipstick'. It lasts for ages, which means it can be terrible to get off at night, and if you apply it too thickly it starts to form balls of red lipcolour. However the pigmentation is incredible and I love the colour

I find the best way to apply it is to dab it on, wipe the excess off the applicator and then rub it in using that. And try not to reapply because that just gets messy!

What did you do for Valentines day?

Love Sophie xx

Look Who's Back In Your Dashboard: Made For Me Naturals Lipstick

Bet you weren't expecting me any time soon? 

Thought I'd come back with a bang for my 100th post (okay not really a bang, but I've got some nice lipsticks to show you?)

These lipsticks are the L'oreal Made For Me Naturals (I think they're part of the Color Riche range?) and I love love love them. They don't get much loving on the internet (absolutely NO swatches anywhere) so I thought I'd do a post.

235 Nude on the left and 240 Dune on the right

After some Googling for a nude lipstick (and by nude I mean flattering and not concealer coloured) I thought I'd give these a try. If you watch Coronation Street, I have been lemming after Carla Connor's lipstick for a long long time. I'm terrible at finding things that match my skin tone, so with this range I reckoned not much could go wrong. I originally bought 240 Dune from Boots for around £8 so they're not cheap, and it's the lightest (I think) lipstick in the Dark Brunettes range.

I apologise for the poor photo conditions, I've just taken them and it's pitch black outside. This has a slight shimmer but it looks lovely with brown smokey eyes.

And that is where my love affair with these lipsticks began. I watched a video where L'oreal shows you how to get 'glamorous lips' and after much pausing and peering I noticed that they use the lipstick 235 (which I later found out was called Nude) and fell in love with the shade. However Boots being Boots didn't stock it so it was up to Ebay, and I managed to get my hands on it for less than half the price I paid for Dune.

This lipstick is (I think) for Blondes, but the model in the video is Brunette so I don't care. It's more pink than Dune and has more of a satin finish. 

I really recommend having a look through these (and then buying them off Ebay)

Let me know what you've been up to, and here's hoping I don't disappear again

Love Sophie xx

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipsticks

Hey everyone, I'm back! You've probably forgotten what I look like, right?

But anyways I somehow managed to end up with 2 of the Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipsticks, one in possibly the lightest shade they've got, and one in the darkest. I'm not sure how much they are now but I paid £3.99 each

If you've seen the advert, it's of Zooey Deschanel covering a room with paint (I think), you would never in a million years associate that advert with these lipsticks. After the beautiful packaging of the Moisture Renew lipsticks these are a bit of a disappointment. 

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipsticks in Asia and Starry Eyed

I do really like these lipsticks. Asia is a kind of browny-pinkish nude and Starry-Eyed is a purplish red. I love how you can easily mattify these lipsticks with tissue and they don't dry out your lips. 

I'm not sure what the claim is but they're NOT that long lasting and they taste a bit strange (kind of like the Maybelline Color Sensationals?)

Have you tried these lipsticks? Are you a Rimmel fan?

Sophie xxx

Review: Models Own Lipstick

Hello lovely ladies

Yep that's right, Models Own, who do lovely nail polishes also does lipstick. And it's not really that great, the phrase 'stick to what you know' springs to mind

Models Own Lipstick in Red Wine - £5

Okay, let's start with the packaging. I hate it. It kind of reminds me of Shu Uemura, but tackier. I couldn't imagine pulling this out on the train, it's not subtle at all. I like subtle packaging :)

And the colour?

In the tube, I love it. It's a dark, autumn red. In reality, on the lips, it's a strange pink. Imagine a few hundred layers of Benetint.

It's nothing special and it's not a lip stick you could whip out and apply without a mirror. It doesn't have a nasty taste or smell, but when I use it it just reminds me of the lipsticks that I played with as a child.

I would try other colours, but at £5 a pop, they're not the cheapest.

Have you tried any of Models Own's make up? Or do you stick to the nail varnish? 

Love Sophie

I Need Your Help (AGAIN!)

Hello lovely ladies

As I'm sure you're aware, I have a fairly English Rose complexion. This is why I cannot get a high street foundation to work for me without me going 'ooh, a bit yellow' (in the words of a House Of Fraser MUA). It's also the reason why I can't really pull off nude lippie

So I came up with my own 'nude' lip, and I really want to know what you think of it on me. Do I look a bit weird? Do you think it suits me?

I personally quite like it, but I was wondering if I looked like a 90s throwback. You know, just watch ANY American film from that era and you'll see what I mean. . 

Oh and if you were wondering, I used

L'oreal Infallible Lipstick in Golden Grape
Rimmel Vinyl Gloss in Heartbeat
L'oreal lip liner

Oh and this really made me giggle

Let me know what you think of my alternative nude!

Thank you, Sophie xx

L'oreal Infallible Lipstick

Hello lovely ladies!

A while back I had an impulse buy and decided to get an Infallible lipstick, they're not the cheapest at £10.99 so I was expecting it to be mindblowingly amazing. Okay okay, it's not mindblowingly so, but it is pretty good

L'oreal Infallible Lipstick - £10.99

Sorry for the stock photo, mine decided to go walkabout just before I took a picture!

I'm usually not a fan of long-lasting lipsticks, they never truly last the time that they promise they will, and they always flake and stain your lipline. Not a good look. But it's not the case with this one. After something to eat and drink, and after a few hours admittedly it doesn't look freshly applied, but it does look totally wearable. 

Here it is freshly applied, it's a lovely natural shade, in Blush Obsession I think, and it tastes like parma violets!

And here it is 6 hours later. . 

Sorry it was night time and I didn't want to wake everyone up with my camera flash! But as you can see there aren't any lines and it is one solid colour

I really do like this lipstick, it really is long lasting and it comes in such a wide variety of colours

All I ask L'oreal, is that can the UK have the Beyonce shade too?

Are you a long lasting lipstick fan? Have you tried this?

Love Sophie xx 

Products That Don't Live Up To The Hype

Hey ladies!

There must be so many of these out there and I was interested to see what you thought, if there are any products you really don't get on with.

To start, here's a couple of mine

Maybelline Great Lash

Oh my gosh. Biggest let down ever. And aren't they meant to sell a billion a minute or something? I don't know who's buying them though! I am a fan of the packaging though. . 

GOSH Darling

Ok it's not like I hate this, I kinda love the scent, all white chocolatey, but it's super drying, lasts a whole of 5 minutes and a bit of a let down. I love it for toning down lip colours though but I don't think it's right for my pale complexion

I'll add some more later if I can think of them

Have you tried these? What are your 'let down' products? Do you find you buy things that everyone loves only to hate them?

Love Sophie xx

Loves And Hates of June

Wow can you believe we're past halfway through the year? Me neither! Anyways, let me introduce you to my first ever Loves and Hates of the month!

Loves

 The Body Shop Body Butter in Passionfruit. I bought this for £4.50 (including Membership Discount) because at the moment selected 200ml Body Butters are only £5 (they're normally £12.50!) This is so delicious and I just want to eat it up

Collection 2000's mineral foundation. This is my first ever mineral foundation and I think for the summer, I'm converted. This is such a lovely formulation and I am a freckled faced girl (and no, I don't like them) and whilst this doesn't cover them it does blur them so I'm left looking like I've been photoshopped, it really does make your face look flawless and glowing. Love it!

Cutting up men's tshirts :) Now I love a baggy tshirt, but they really are pretty much impossible to find. Primark has a few, but they always practically see-through and show your bra and they're always not quite right. Everywhere else just seems to have 'stretch' tshirts. I don't want fabric clinging to me in the middle of Summer! So I bought these two t-shirts from H&M for Men, and cut the neck off. The striped one was £2.99 and the nude behind was £3.99. I wear them off the shoulder and you can't see my bra through them, perfect!

Vintage-style handbags. Now I have quite a few of these and this is my newest addition, which went shopping with me today in Oxford Street :) I bought this off Laura's blog sale and it was a bargain and it has so many pockets!

Mixing lip colours. I've always loved doing this, I think I'm one of those people that can't stop when it comes to make up! This is Gosh Darling mixed with Revlon Colorburst in Coral. A lot of people say they find coral difficult to wear and whilst I think that this coral is very wearable, dabbing it over the top of Gosh Darling (or any other nude) gives you a subtle lip colour that isn't your average pink, yet it still remains not too out there!

Hates

Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Tutti Fruity. Now don't get me wrong I usually love these nail varnishes, but this one is just terrible. The colour is lovely yes, but it chips like nobody's business and it bubbles. Yes, bubbles. I currently have bumpy chipped nails, it really isn't a good look.

These two glosses I have to admit, I got free as at Boots and Superdrug at the moment you get one free when you spend over £4, but I still can't love them. The best thing about them is their names, but apart from that, they last a matter of seconds, they taste disgusting and no matter which one you use they all look the same colour. 

Topshop Liner. You can read my full review of Topshop make up here, and if you've read it already you'll know I hate it. This liner is SO bad it's so difficult to use and the liner is terrible, really thin and yuck. The only thing I use this for is dipped in MAC Fluidline when I can't find my eyeliner brush but apart from that it's no use and I will never buy it again.

Benefit Bad Gal. You can read my Benefit Rant here and my speedy review of this here, I take it back, this liner is not fab and I would never ever buy this. It is a complete waste of money as it just doesn't do what it says it will and it doesn't last on your waterline, or anywhere else for that matter!

Hope you enjoyed reading this, sorry it was quite long, are you loving/hating any of these products?

Sophie xx

Revlon Colorburst

Hey lovely ladies :)

Isn't it just extreeeemely hot? Anyways, we're always reminded that for summer, always always go for a coral lip! Now for me, the prospect of wearing ORANGE on my face is a bit of a no-go. Until I saw the new Revlon Colorburst. I mean I just had to look at Jessica Alba and I was sold (apart from when she dyed her hair that dodgy blonde, does that woman ever look the tiniest bit imperfect??) and the 2 pounds off at Boots (oh and Advantage card points. .) meant I had to grab one.

Firstly, what does Revlon have to say about their Colorburst Lipsticks?

• Instant burst of rich, true color with a featherlight feel 
• Elasticolor™ technology provides immediate color release and hugs lips with a burst of weightless color that feels like a second skin

Now personally, if I ever see a  ™ in a product description, they are not having my money. (Peptido-Complex, Softflex. . I'm looking at you L'oreal!) But I did really want to try a coral lipstick

This is their Coral (click it to see it enlarged)

And my lips wearing it. .

Sorry that's a really bad picture but you get the idea. It really is a very nice lipstick. It has no shine, no sparkles, it's a matte lipstick but thankfully it's not toodrying. It doesn't last very long and I'm not sure if I agree that it 'hugs' lips as obviously you can feel that you're wearing it. It does fade, but it doesn't look terrible like some lipsticks do, infact you could get away with not reapplying I think.Unfortunately Boots literally had 5 shades but there are apparently 20 available, and there are some very nice nude colours too. I think it looks best when dabbed on to give a 'burst' of colour, as it can make your lips look a bit clown like if applied in the normal way.

So all in all, yes I would recommend this lipstick, maybe not at full price, but it gives great colour pay-off and the packaging is lovely. The imprinted 'Revlon' into the bullet is very Chanel and I really do like this lipstick

What do you think? Have you ever bought a Revlon lippie before?

Sophie xx

E.L.F Haul

A few years ago I discovered the make up brand E.L.F (www.eyeslipsface.co.uk), and it's actually really reasonable with many things costing just £1.50 -- but you probably know all about it already so I won't go on too much. Anyways, I really hate paying postage and packaging, so whenever I see offers where you don't have to pay it I'm there! So last week they had a free P&P when you spend over a tenner so I thought I'd go for it, and this is what I bought.

So what did I think? First of all let's start with the goodies. I absolutely love these:

This is the E.L.F Super Glossy Lip Shine in Candlelight, it suits all skin tones and it's a really pretty colour, it doesn't really last long but it tastes really good. Every time I use it I try and think what it could be but I've still got no idea! I found it good for muting down lips when doing a smoky eye without giving you that kind of my lips are lighter than my skin look that a lot of people go for :)

I also loved this, it's a All Over Color Stick in Persimmon

It really is an All Over stick! I used it to highlight cheekbones (just dab a little on the top of your cheekbones and BLEND! This stuff looks pretty funny unblended, trust me, I went out with it unblended and when I got to the restaurant toilets, dear me it looked quite funny!) but it also looks nice as an eyeshadow, just dab and go! And you can dab it on lips too, dab dab dab I've said that word too many times it doesn't look real now hehe

However, at a price of £1.50 it's not all going to be good. The individual lashes look great, but of course they're very fiddly to apply (goes without saying!) but the glue is a bit rubbish. Saying that, when coming back from a night out, I washed my face and one landed in the sink, I hadn't even noticed one had stayed put!

Another product I wasn't so keen on was this little fella. It's a Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Pink Lemonade. Now you all know I love lipstick, but this is no lipstick! It's a lipgloss pure and simple and a pretty boring one at that. Not much colour to it and it's a bit muh. That's not even a real word but that's all it is, muh. It doesn't make any difference really and I won't be rebuying.

Now these babies are a bit hit and miss, they're the Liquid Eyeshadows and I got them in Sultry Satin (the paler shade) and Mocha Madness. Even the names are a bit odd.

Now I really love the colours, but the application is a bit strange. The lighter shade is fine, but the darker one goes really patchy, you would think it was the other way round though wouldn't you, looking at my swatches (forgive the swatches, my camera was dying and wouldn't focus!) Also, they take forever to dry. This is what the website says about them: 

The pigment rich Liquid Eyeshadow dries to a water tight finish to give endless staying power so you can take your look from day to night without looking faded. The colors won't crease or smear, and they won't budge until you take them off. An alternative to traditional eye shadows, these lightweight colors are exceptionally gentle for a silky smooth finish. The quick dry formula allows for fast and easy application.

Sounds great, right? I suppose what they say is true, but quick dry? No way! And if I wipe my finger over them when they're applied it transfers to my skin!

Ok I think that's enough, sorry for a super long post but I'm off to Yorkshire for 5 days and thought I'd give you something to read! Have you been on E.L.F before? Seen anything you like? Or anything you've bought? Lemme know!

Hasta luego chicas,

Sophie x

another lipstick, only this time not so good

So you know how every once in a while Max Factor treats us to one of those make up bags full of minatures when you spend 15 pounds or something? Well I found the most amazing purple shade. Now I know what you're thinking, purple? That sounds kinda gross. . but it's gorgeous. It's a kind of pinkish purple, in shade Midnight Plum (it's actually in their darker skinned range), but look at the size of it

It's not going to last long, but instead of paying the £12 or whatever it is for the full size I thought I'd try another brand. Not a good move. I went for the Maybelline Color Sensational in Midnight Plum. Oh my goodness, they're even called the same name! That is seriously weird. But anyways, they're not the same colour, oh no.

Here it is in all its glory

Ok it doesn't look so bad here, but it tastes DISGUSTING. Kind of like play dough I think, maybe parma violets thrown in there to try and fool you into thinking it's not too bad. Ugh. And to make matters worse, as gorgeous and sophisticated as the packaging is, look what Boots did to it with its stupid security labels!

As you can see it has that kind of pearlescent hint to it, which some people may love, but for me, it really doesn't look right and it makes my lips look so much smaller, which I know dark lipsticks are meant to do but Midnight Plum - the Max Factor one! - doesn't at all. What are your experiences with the Color Sensational range? Have you discovered any nicer shades?

Sophie x

first post -- and superdrug MUA?

So I love lipstick. Any brand, any shade, I'll want to try it at some point. So one day this week I was watching a random The Hills episode, the one where it's Lauren's birthday, and she was wearing the most beautiful lipstick, one which of course I can't find a photo of, but if we're thinking colours it was a kind of a NARS Fire Down Below or a MAC Dubonnet and considering pay day isn't for another few weeks I had to get mine from some place else, enter the Superdrug MUA.

It's that new brand in Superdrug where everything is £1. Yes, £1. But of course that means quality isn't going to be so great, but I thought I'd try it anyway. I tried every single shade, tested it on my hand (and to be fair they're still there, so guess they've got staying power if it can last 2 hours worth of Tae Kwon Do and 2 showers). But then I got to shade 1. Almost almost identical to the shade that Ms. Conrad wore.

And it's a really beautiful creamy colour, the same kind of consistency of MAC's Amplified Creme lipsticks. I found it quite easy to apply, but it requires a lot of concentration to get it just right so it's not really an apply and go lipstick (as you can see by my messy edges)

HOWEVER, and it's a big however, I was a bit disappointed in the eyeshadows. I've needed a neutral (cheap!) eyeshadow for some time now, and no matter how many I try it always seems to remind me that if I want a good job doing, I'll have to pay a bit more. And this eyeshadow is no exception, again part of the MUA range, in shade 17.

So it doesn't look too bad, does it? Yet if you look at it in real life, its got BUBBLES on it. Since when did eyeshadows bubble?! Or maybe they do I don't know but it's never happened to me before! I had a photo of a swatch but you really can't see it so there wasn't much point uploading. To cut a long story short, it's very drying and touching it with my finger makes my skin crawl!

So does anyone know of a good eyeshadow in a skin tone kinda shade?

Until next time,
Sophie x