Pucker Up For Portugal

Hello!!

My more recent obsession, aside from the mammoth collection of nail varnishes, is all about the lip!!

In work I don't tend to wear too much make up and lipstick / lipgloss / lip balms are the one item I avoid - mainly because I get too busy, forget to touch up and by the end of the day I look like I've face-smushed a punnet of soggy strawberries!!

However on holiday... it's a different story... the lips come out to play ;)

I took a range of shades and products with me to Portugal so here's a run down and some swatches!!

First up - as shown on my lips in the photo above - Sleek's Matte Me Lip Creme in Rjoja Red.
The colour pay off is intense, the above photo is only one coat and it's amazing, It dries in a minute or two leaving a gorgeous, not too dry, matte texture. At £4.99 from Boots, the pricing is on point too.

Maybelline's Shine Edition in Oh My Doll is beautiful - I have the older packaging but the new packaging (seen here). A little sheer but a perfect pink for the beach with a really nice, glossy finish and not drying in any way, winner!!

This next beauty is from Barry M and is actually a shade that was bought for me by a 'Secret Santa' - aka one of my team at work - at Christmas this year. It's a neutral rosey peach shade, shade 164, from their Lip Paint range.Considering Hayley didn't know me too well at the time, her choice was spot on for me!!
It's a little drying but does last quite a long time and is a colour that I can wear anytime and anywhere :)

 And to finish the lipstick section off.. The Bourjois Souffle De Velvet in Ravie En Rose! So soft, lasts about 4-5 hours with one coat and for me, isn't drying one bit. This colour is gorgeous yet neutral, and perfect for the beach during the day!

Four lip balms came on holiday with me, the most important one being the Blistex Raspberry Lemonade Blast with SPF 15 protection!! Mr B wasn't a fan of the scent on this but I loved it :) It's very sweet smelling and feels thicker than your normal balm but not in a disgusting wallpaper paste way I assure you!!

 

And the balms that followed included the:

• EOS Lip Balm
• Clinique Chubby Stick Baby Tint
• Revlon's Color Burst Lip Lacquer Balm
• Baby Lips Balm & Blush

Hopefully some lip-smacking holiday suggestions for you!!

Let me know if you have any recommendations below :)

Thanks
Hannah

Maybelline Lash Sensational - Sizzle or Fizzle?

 It's Sunday evening already and the Monday-blues have arrived! However, on the plus side I've given Maybelline's Lash Sensational mascara a full day test run... and I like it!

I picked up the normal version and a waterproof one in my Boots haul the other day (click here for the blog post!) after hearing so many good things and most importantly for it's reputation of being a cheaper high street dupe for Benefit's Roller Lash.

I'm saving the waterproof one for my holiday next week (*sings* do you like pina coladas?) but I'm very impressed with the normal version. There's no strong smell, dries fairly quickly, easy to apply to the lower lash line too (I struggle with some brushes which makes me look like a giant panda!) and the best thing, the difference it makes to my 'naked' lashes....

Being naturally fair skinned with blonde, my eyebrows and eyelashes look pretty non-existent without some 'assistance' and I love how much difference one coat of Lash Sensational makes. As you can tell it opens up my eyes and makes them look thicker and it does this without giving that 'clumpy' look or feeling heavy/sticky on my lashes.

On my brows I've used the pencil from Revlon's Brow Fantasy in Brunette which is my go-to quick eyebrow product to give a little colour and on my lids I've used a couple of shades from Collection's Eyes Uncovered palette in Nude Rose - a nice handy-sized palette with a nice range of 6 shimmery shades.

Getting to lunch time, it's held up well. I have a habit when mascara dries too much to pull it off my lashes and I didn't find myself doing this today. Lunch time update is as follows (be warned, you're about to see my ugly mug!!)

 My eyes are a tad wonky in this picture (which is pretty normal for me) but the lashes were doing really well :)

Which brings me to this evening (well about 30 minutes ago)...
I've now had the product of for 12 hours!! It's still fairly comfortable and my lashes are still reasonably soft to touch - I find with Roller Lash that they can get a little bit stiff by this time.

It's worn a little bit more on the left eye on the picture and throughout the day it didn't give as good a lift as Roller Lash does for me but I'm really happy that I've given this a go and it's a definite sizzle! So much so I've done exactly what I did my older shampoo/conditioner on my Extraordinary Clay review and swapped my existing mascara out of my make up and back and Lash Sensational is in! 

I'm looking forward to see how the waterproof one holds up in Portugal.. I'm putting my faith in it as it's the only mascara I'm going to take :)

 Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and what you think of Lash Sensational :)

Thanks for reading!
Hannah
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Boots Haul!!

Hello :)

Following the bank holiday weekend and the Tuesday blues, I popped into Boots.
I keep a 'little' list of beauty-wants on my phone so I thought Tuesday evening was a good time to tick some purchases off the list :)

I could honestly live in Boots however as this wouldn't be allowed... it happens that I only live several feet from it's front door - sooo dangerous!!

First up, I bought two (yes, two) Maybelline Lash Sensational mascaras, one normal and one waterproof - both in Black. I love Benefit's Roller Lash and I've read and watched tons of reviews (even a fab Youtube 'wear and compare' review by Miss Budget Beauty!) and I thought I'd give it a go and I'll update the blog once I've taken them for a spin :) I'm not expecting the same results as I get with Roller Lash but a good second place would be worth it!

Second into my basket, I bought Rimmel's Wake Me Up Anti-Fatigue Foundation in 100 Ivory.
I've had a mini sample of Estee Lauder's Double Wear Stay in Place in Fresco from the Boots @ Cribbs Causeway in Bristol and I LOOOVE it, but as I haven't been back to that branch to purchase a full size I thought I'd give something else (a little bit cheaper) a go instead.

I've not tried this on my face yet however shade wise I was happy in the shop BUT when I got home and looked at where I'd swatched it and I could've been mistaken for a vampire walking into the sunlight in the Twilight series.. it's a tad shimmery to say the least! I'm still going to give it a good try and I'll report back soon.

Then by accident, Bourjois' new Radiance Reveal concealer fell in to the basket and only made it back out to jump into the carrier bag at the till :) Sadly there seems to be only 3 shades available and are all in the lighter end of the spectrum.
Being fairly new at using concealers until I'd discovered the 'holy grail' Collection Lasting Perfection beauty, this one from Bourjois has been a well talked about product and I hope worth the hype!

I picked up an Essie nail varnish in 'Cocktail Bling' (this shade was in Essie's All I Want for Christmas 2015 set) as part of an instore Coca Cola offer - buy one of the selected shades of an Essie polish and a 500ml bottle of coke for £5.99 (bargain!!!). I really like Essie varnishes, I've not got many in vast collection of varnishes but the ones I have are of such good quality and this muted bluebell colour is lovely and so nice for spring :)

Last lap, I entered the hair care section picking up a trusted Batiste Dry Shampoo in the Cherry fragrance.. I don't need to say anymore :)

And finally.. whilst exiting the aisle towards the till (as Mr B was getting a sweat on in the car waiting for me and my purse to surface!) I saw the new L'Oreal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Clay range. On offer at 3 for £10, I picked up the pre-shampoo mask, the anti-dandruff shampoo and the conditioner. Again, another hyped up product but an interesting one at that! I'll be doing a first impression post on these which will be up soon :)

I hope you enjoyed the mini haul (I certainly did :))

Blog soon!
Hannah
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