"Drugstore" Lip Haul + Swatches

I've got a lip related post for you today, shock horror! I am seriously feeling this season's whole vampy makeup trend so I've been heading to Boots and Superdrug a lot to update my look on the cheap.

Superdrug have had 3 for 2 on all their makeup the past few weeks so I headed straight to the Sleek stand to pick up a few of their lipsticks. I am a massive Sleek fan, every single item I have used from them is incredible quality and the prices are such good value. I have to be careful when selecting lip shades as a good selection of them are matte which my dry lips do not agree with, although I know some people will love that. The colours I settled for in the end are 'Peaches & Cream', 'Cherry' and 'Mulberry'.

(L-R Sleek Lipsticks in 'Mulberry', 'Cherry' and 'Peaches & Cream)

(Mulberry)

(Cherry)

(Peaches & Cream)

All 3 lipsticks are in a 'Sheen' finish which means they glide on smoothly and have a subtle shine to them, I find the texture similar to a Mac 'Cremesheen' for reference. They are really impressively opaque and not at all drying on the lips, for £4.99 I don't really have a bad word to say. Props to Sleek!

I wanted 'Peaches & Cream' for the whole of Summer but it was constantly sold out, so I figured while it was in stock and on 3 for 2 I may as well pick it it up! It is the perfect creamy peach and intensely pigmented. I have naturally quite dark pink lips but I found the shade easily covered it up. 

My favourite of the 3 I bought is definitely Cherry. It is a vivid, deep red but different from any other red I own. It is darker than a true red such as Topshop 'Hazard' or Mac 'Ruby Woo' but brighter than your classic Autumnal berry red hue such as 'Dubonnet'. 

The final shade I picked up is WAY out of my comfort zone. 'Mulberry' is an extremely dark, blackened purple and to be honest, a shade I'm not sure I'd actually wear out the house. This is unusual for me as I'm not one to shy away from bold lipsticks but this is just that bit too close to black for me. It hasn't translated just how dark it is in the swatch on the lips as I had to use the flash due to our incredible English weather, but I think the swatch on the hand portrays better the true colour. Whilst this colour isn't for me, I still cannot say a bad word against it. It has incredible pigmentation, an excellent creamy texture, and if a super dark vampy lipstick on a budget is what you are after, I couldn't recommend this highly enough.

All hail Sleek!

I've also been desperate to try Revlon's answer to Clinique's Chubby Sticks, the 'Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains' for so long and when I saw they were also on 3 for 2 I finally jumped on the bandwagon and got myself a couple, as well as one for a friend. The colours I picked were 'Crush' and 'Rendezvous'.

(L-R Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in 'Crush' and 'Rendezvous')

(Crush)

(Rendezvous)

'Crush' is by far my favourite of the two balm stains I chose. It is a beautiful deep, pinky berry colour that literally looks as though you have crushed a blackberry on your lips. The other colour I selected, 'Rendezvous' is a subtle wash of orange and will be perfect for summer time (forward planning!). 

The texture of the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains is very smooth and easy to apply and there is a nice minty flavour which is very fresh and not too sickly. The colours are sheer but extremely buildable, however the only negative I have to say is that when the balmy texture wears off, the colour left can become a little patchy and slightly flaky. This is nothing carrying round a good lipbalm doesn't solve and the stain really does last all day. For £7.99 I think Revlon are on to a winner and I will definately be picking up a few more shades, 'Honey' is next on my wishlist!

What are your favourite drugstore lip products?

Becca.x

Top 10 Nail Polishes for Autumn/Winter

Those of you who have been following my little blog since the start may remember that way back in June I did my 'Top 10 Nail Polishes for Summer' post. Now it's Autumn, my favourite time of the year don't you know, and I thought I'd do a similar post showing you my seasonal faves for these colder months. Since moving into the new house I haven't been able to afford many new makeup and beauty bits, hense the lack of beauty posts, so these are all from my old  faithful nail varnish collection!

(L-R Revlon  'Plum Night', OPI  'Romeo & Joliet', Essie 'Sew Psyched', OPI 'Warm & Fozzie', Rimmel Lycra Pro 'Beige Babe', Models Own 'Golden Green Beetle Juice', Sally Hansen 'Gray By Gray', Revlon 'Facets of Fuschia', OPI 'Stranger Tides', Nails Inc 'Queenstown Road')

1) Revlon 'Plum Night' - I love, love, love the colour of this polish. It is exactly what the name suggests, a true plum, very dark and rich. The only issue I have with this shade is that it does take a fair few coats to get it opaque and streak free as it is fairly watery but the colour you get at the end makes it worthwhile.

2) OPI 'Romeo & Joliet' - OPI are by far my favourite nail polish brand for their amazing shade range, their smooth application and their quirky names. 'Romeo & Joliet' is a dark burgandy/wine colour with shimmer to give it a metallic finish that is really on trend this Autumn/Winter. The colour is opaque in 1 coat as with most OPI polishes, although I always do 2 for good luck!

3) Essie 'Sew Psyched' - This is the perfect polish for this season's military trend. It is a khaki green and applies so creamy and even. This is by far my most worn Autumn/Winter polish so far this year. As far as I know this shade is now available in the diffusion line for Boots and Superdrug, however I ordered mine online from Fragrance Direct last year so it is the old formula.

4) OPI 'Warm & Fozzie' - Another favourite from the famous brand, 'Warm & Fozzie' came out in the Muppets Collection last year and is a beautiful bronzey-brown with multi coloured shimmer, seriously festive!

5) Rimmel Lycra Pro 'Beige Babe' - I'll be the first to admit this isn't the most exciting and glitteringly festive shade, but 'Beige Babe' is ideal for those times you're feeling lazy and want a colour that is going to go with everything. It is a creamy taupe and as I mentioned in the summer alternative to this post, Rimmel Lycra Pro polishes are by far my favourite formula.

6) Models Own 'Golden Green Beetle Juice' - This is a stunning duo-chrome polish that I've heard is a dupe for Chanel 'Peridot', although I don't have that to compare. This has a really complex shimmer to it and is one of the few nail varnishes to last more than 5 minutes on my nails without chipping, so for me it's a total winner!

7) Sally Hansen 'Gray By Gray' - This is actually a really versatile shade as you can get away with wearing it any time of year. Contrary to what the name would have you believe, 'Gray By Gray' is actually more of a tealy-blue and reminds me very much of a stormy sea at night (Im so deep). 

8) Revlon 'Facets of Fuschia' - This nail varnish excites me so much it is RIDICULOUS, it is just so god damn special! I'm not normally a massive glitter polish fan, they can look a bit tacky and are frankly, a total pain in the butt hole to get off but this is just so unique, it's like nothing I've ever seen before! 2 coats leave it looking like a black gel with different sized purple/fuschia glitter suspended within it, it really reminds me of the galaxy print that's so popular at the moment. Definitely get your hands on this!

9) OPI 'Stranger Tides' - This is a gorgeous pale pistachio shade that is perfect for when you want a nice Autumn/Winter polish but you don't want anything too dark. It is much, much lighter than Essie's 'Sew Psyched' and it has a similar affect to a nude polish.

10) Nails Inc 'Queenstown Road' - I am so gutted I only have the mini of this as it is the perfect Oxblood/Burgandy hue. It almost has a gel finish to it and is really dark and beautifully opaque in just 2 coats. I love matching this with a dark vampy lippy such as 'Dubonnet' by Mac which I featured in my similar 'Top 5 Lipsticks for Autumn/Winter'. 

So those are my 10 favourite nail polishes for these up and coming christmassy months, what are yours? Do you like to follow nail trends or are you still rocking the neons and pastels?

Becca.x