Lipsticks in Rotation|April-July 2018

SwannaLeave a comment

Hi everyone!

As you might be able to tell, this post was originally scheduled for the end of April, which quickly flew by as I had lots of university things to do. On top of that, I was very bored with my lipstick choices afterwards so this is essentially a catch-up in lipsticks, too. However, I’ve now gone through half the year without buying a single new lipstick, so yay!

Starting a Year-Long Lipstick No-Buy

Lipsticks in Rotation – January 2018

Lipsticks in Rotation – February 2018

Lipsticks in Rotation – March 2018

April

New Item: NYX Butter Gloss Intense in Chocolate Crepe

I’ve been wearing this a heck of a lot recently. Of all the days I wore lipstick this month, I was likely wearing this for over half those days. The shade is my favourite type, a medium nude and it’s refreshing to be able to wear it all day without it drying my lips. It’s thick but not too thick and still delivers a lovely shine whilst lasting surprisingly well.

New Item: NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Cannes

In contrast, this was a bit of a disappointment. It settled into my lip lines and was overall just underwhelming considering how well-loved this range is. I much preferred the Liquid Suedes which definitely felt like a better and improved version. However, I do love this shade – a muted pink which is super nice for spring.

MAC Matte Lipstick in Nouveau Vogue (mini)

Considering that my Bourjois Nude-ist is running out, this is actually a very acceptable stand-in for a cooler pink. It has a bit of mauve to it that makes it wearable on me but still not a nude at all. It’s girly yet totally cool. This is the nutcracker edition mini packaging, I think.

Nars Velvet Satin Lip Pencil in Yu (mini)

I underestimated just how bright this is. It’s also super blue toned and I haven’t worn this kind of shade since perhaps last year. At the moment, I think it looks very odd on my skintone so have only really worn it once this month! It’s a popular and raved about shade that I have seen a lot in the blogosphere but I don’t think it’s for me.

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip in Scrooge | Review here

I adore this colour. Like Rose Lancome from last month, this is a shade of pink that seems to brighten up my complexion and also my day. Not to mention this formula lasts all day without fail. If you leave these tubes lying around still too much though, the formula tends to separate and look a little less lively, but otherwise, it is still completely useable.

Mamonde Color Balm Intense in #16 Velvet Red | Review here

I do love this shade – that kind of muted red that is really flattering on me. Is it just me or are pencil type lipsticks essentially the same as normal lipsticks? Especially after they are worn down. The packaging on them also generally looks less appealing too for not that many positives over a bullet. Due to the matte formula I’ve still been reaching for my lip brush to tidy the edges after applying this pencil type product.

May/June/July

I knew I wouldn’t be out as much compared to previous months, so I scrapped my planned rotations completely. Instead, I made sure to reach for shades that I really wanted to use up at the moment. They all happen to be products I have featured on this blog before in previous rotations, too. Either way, I didn’t care all that much.

My tube of Lancome’s Rose Nu is pretty much finished unless I use a brush to scoop out the last remaining bits. Burberry’s Rosewood has been my go-to neutral choice for work although it does feel drying halfway into the working day. Clinique’s Cherry Pop has been the obvious choice for any fancier days out. I’ve not varied much in my lipsticks besides these.

So, now that we are nearing August I’ve actually re-sorted my rotations box and not forgotten about it so there will actually be a new post at the end of next month… But what I really want to ask right now is ‘what do you do when you’re bored with your current makeup?’ …That hopefully doesn’t include buying more! Especially in the summer when I’m barely wearing any and prefer a ‘lighter’ face, so to speak.

Until next time,

X

Another Catch Up

SwannaLeave a comment

Hi everyone!

It’s been a good month and a half since my last post. I made sure to take some time off after exams to chill then ended up diving into part-time work in a slightly drastic change to my routine that took some time to adjust to. I’ve managed to get a little bit of balance back, so here is a rambling post about some of the things I was up to recently, with some photos of other things I did.

This lil cat from The Kitty Cafe in Nottingham represents me during the summer. And maybe all the time.

You all know I have a long list of hobbies and interests I like to switch and rotate between a lot. Makeup has fully fallen out of the rotation, it seems. I haven’t touched my box of new items in MONTHS and I wear the same casual lipsticks for work all the time, although to be fair I have rarely gone out to do anything else. So, as a result, I am kind of stuck for beauty content.

I have picked my reading back up again as well, although it seems my pace slows every time I do. I finally finished reading The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, and then I finished Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin, too. I particularly loved the latter, especially the second half. It’s very sweet and emotive, not romantic in the typical sense, and deliciously dark. I will be seeing Sarah Maria Griffin in an event in a few weeks, which I am really excited for now.

Books I read2.jpg
Some terrible doodled versions of covers of the books I read.

Just a few days ago, I finished Blade Runner, or originally ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick – It’s a shorter read compared to my last two but I am enjoying it a lot so far. I’m only two chapters in, and the worldbuilding is done really… concisely, with lots of ‘show, don’t tell’. As much as I can deal with flowery prose, I really like this about this book so far. Gotta take notes.

Anyhow, my next pick will be Sabriel by Garth Nix. I have a goal to make it through as much of my current TBR this summer as possible!

This is Zaap Thai Street Food, also in Nottingham. I thought I had stepped out onto a street on the other side of the world! The details were amazing and reminded me of a night in Ho Chi Minh City, too.

I recently acquired a Nintendo Switch, so most of my days off have consisted of wandering Hyrule semi-aimlessly. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is so OPEN and I love it – almost everything can be interacted with. At some point, I am going to have to learn and actually remember some combat controls though because simply charging into the nearest enemy flailing a Boko Bat and panicking won’t work all the time…

My favourite part of the game beyond exploring is probably gathering ingredients and cooking food, as boring as that sounds. Autosaves in this game make me feel invincible even though I’ve gotten ‘Game Over’ at least nine times. I do like to dive into new areas but you know when it’s misty and I paraglide in only to have the mist reveal a bunch of Lizalfos that kill me in one hit? Sigh, yeah that kind of sucks.

The Warehouse Cafe is a nice Veggie Only place to check out. I wasn’t into this dish (the filo parcel) personally but I’d love to go back and check out other items on their menu!

I also bought Stardew Valley, which I really like because whilst I loved Harvest Moon DS, it was… tedious, for lack of a better word. Stardew Valley feels very similar… maybe better, though! I tend to like these no-pressure games a lot more. I also bought Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, for another open-world like BOTW, but also no-pressure kind of thing. It’s okay so far. Can’t climb things though. Can’t even enter buildings or swim, so it’s not as open, and sometimes the movement and camera controls make me dizzy, but it’s a welcome change from Guardians and Lizalfos.

I feel stuck with my drawing. I’m finding it really hard to be happy with stuff I draw at the moment making it really hard to continue. I keep thinking every line and resulting picture needs to be perfect (I finally understand the idea of ‘meaningful lines’ my art teacher kept going on about in school but it’s hard!) and it’s so frustrating that I can’t put my ideas on paper/computer yet. I think I will start experimenting with brush settings and some other digital techniques beyond just sketching. I have actually gone back to dabbling in writing too, but like… actually writing stuff instead of just planning forever and never getting words down on the page.

Anyway, I am scheduling some long-overdue beauty posts from before the hiatus, and I hope to still be chatting to myself here afterwards. If I’m not grinding for money or still dying in games.

Until next time,

X

Snap Reviews: Lip Creams from NYX and Collection

Swanna2 Comments

Hi everyone!

It’s taken me this long to finally try out the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream. Not surprising, to be honest! It was one of those things I meant to buy and try as soon as NYX landed in the UK a while back but for some reason, I never got around to it. But here we are now… I also picked up the Collection Velvet Kiss and after seeing how similar the two products are, I thought I would feature them in the same post.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream

£6.00 – Available from Boots, Debenhams and many online stores like FeelUnique, Cult Beauty and LookFantastic.

I really liked this at first – it goes on the lips quite pigmented but might need more than one dip in the tube if you’ve got bigger lips. It even goes on with a bit of a sheen before it sets compared to the Collection Lip Cream which already applies quite dry.

It appeared smooth at first but cracks showed up in my bottom lip later when I smiled. However, it was a lot less drying compared to the Collection Lip Cream.

Cannes is a cute pink shade that is like Bourjois’ Nude-ist to me, but a little deeper and warmer, perhaps. It just seems way more flattering on me than Nude-ist, and I can actually imagine myself wearing this shade a lot, so I’m going to try and find a very similar one in a formula I like.

Zurich is a lighter, coral ish shade. The coral tones prevent this colour from being too light and bland on me. This particular shade was a gift from TrayTray and I don’t think I would have bought this colour to try myself otherwise, so I was surprised to find this to be a cute colour for the spring and summer seasons.

 

Okay, this picture doesn’t seem strange at all on my phone but my laptop shows it as super dim and cool-toned. Anyone else?

 

Collection Velvet Kiss Moisturising Lip Cream

£2.99 – Available from Superdrug

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This product was very obviously made to be a dupe of the Soft Matte Lip Cream – the tubes are almost identical apart from the slightly different finish on the lids.

Caramel is a very pretty nude brown shade I often struggle to find in stores because it’s all sold out. The price makes it a pretty irresistible pick-up if you like any of the small range of shades. This is the only nude brown shade. It has a very strong sweet smell that smells both delicious and slightly off-putting… sickly, maybe.

I’ve previously compared this to Velvet teddy in this post, so I’ll share the same photo below. It wears decently but I feel as if it is quite drying. On top of that, the tube feels quite empty and the applicator doesn’t pick up much product even when it’s new. Collection’s Lip cream only holds 5ml whilst NYX’s Lip Cream holds 8ml, so that might explain that.

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Overall, I think I’m going to conclude that these lip creams aren’t for me – they didn’t really live up to the hype for me and whilst they’re not awful, they’re also not mind-blowing but I can see why the NYX ones are a favourite.

Until next time,

X

Review: Skinfood Avocado & Honey Lip Serum

SwannaLeave a comment

Hi everyone!

Now that I have established a lip care routine of sorts, I am looking into exploring other options for the steps I have. One of these steps involves using a thin ‘lip serum’ type product in the morning. It has to be really quick and easy to use and play well with my lipsticks and lip liners without compromising them. So for this, tubs are a no and sticks are okay… But I really love tubes as there is no time taken to ‘melt’ any product onto the lips – lanolin products being a sort of exception.

 

By the way, lip balms were not part of my no-buy. Tinted ones… well, I didn’t realise this one was tinted… I certainly don’t wear it in lieu of a lipstick, so I wouldn’t count this particular one… I don’t normally buy/wear tinted ones at all…

 

The product I used for this step prior was Dr Organic’s Hemp Lip Serum. It’s an oily gel sort of texture, in a tube, and in a thin layer, works really well for what I need it for without being too runny. But lip ‘serums’ are a rare product category and I wanted to see what other options I had. Lip essences are interesting too and I think the two terms might be used interchangeably and of course, lip oils are not to be ignored although true oil consistencies are not what I’m looking for.

I bought this product for £3.97 for 10 ml from RoseRoseShop on ebay, a known reputable seller of Korean cosmetics and skincare. As usual, it took about two weeks to get to me here in the UK.

This appealed to me as a morning lip balm because it has a little sun protection at SPF8 and has a tube packaging. to be honest, as I pat off the lip balm later the SPF is not a deal breaker as it won’t stay on. The avocado and honey extracts are supposed to help keep the lips moist. It smells of a typical lip balm in a stick – I think it’s lypsyl that comes to mind or the classic Nivea lip balm scent. That means it also doesn’t taste very nice.

I was really surprised to see the product come out so dark – a very deep berry colour! However, once I spread it on the lips this colour all but dissipates into a not-even-noticeable tint. It doesn’t appear too glossy or too matte – just a creamy shine.

When I am only wearing this balm during the day at home, the product lasts two or three hours on the lips before I have to reapply it again. This is with drinking water and a bit of snacking in between. It won’t last a meal, but as the tint is so light you’re not going to notice, visually, that it’s gone. At the same time, the tint makes my lips look healthier and less washed out. If you have more pigmented lips, though you won’t notice a difference.

It plays well under lip products. I usually press my lips against the back of my hand to remove excess and leave a thin layer. It doesn’t cause my lipstick to go on patchy and I can use my lip products as usual.

I wasn’t sure about this lip serum at first. I’m not sure I would still call it the kind of serum I was expecting. It’s definitely more just a thin balm. However, it’s really grown on me and I do enjoy using it now, especially the healthy flush it gives to my lips even if I do pat it off later on. I don’t think I will repurchase this again, though.

Until next time,

X

Review: Revolution Conceal & Define Liquid Concealer

SwannaLeave a comment

Hi everyone!

Like every other makeup enthusiast I was super excited to hear about Revolution’s new concealer and its shade range. It was something I insisted on buying in person but its popularity proved so immense I couldn’t even find teasers in store, let alone the actual product! After its launch, it took almost two whole months for me to get my hands on the concealer to try!

Revolution Conceal & Define costs only £5 and is available at Superdrug’s stores and website, as well as the Tambeauty site.

Not surprisingly, the packaging is a very trendy rose-gold, and the tube a little bulky compared to my other products. It’s pretty and looks lovely in photos, though.

The doe-foot applicator is nice and really pleasant to use, although sometimes I find it picks up a little too much product. This is a minor gripe, though, and I find the amount plenty for the areas I use base products on. The product doesn’t set too quickly either so it’s not a problem that I’ve got way too much concealer on one side of my face.

I don’t use foundation all over my face normally, and in hindsight, I actually use foundation and concealer the same way – mostly around the centre parts of my face where redness most often shows. I am also not fussed about concealing my dark circles – I am a student after all, and it’s a perfectly normal thing in the exam season! With this in mind, my base products have to match well to the outer parts of my face.

The swatch below shows the concealer next to my two favourite current matches in concealer and foundation- the Maybelline Eye Eraser in Light and the Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation in 1W2 Sand. Both of these current products I want to avoid repurchasing if I can find cruelty-free alternatives, which is unfortunate as they match really well and I have found that I do have a difficult skintone to match – a neutral – yellowish tone that many products fail to match by turning too orange. Oxidisation also really annoys me so I’d much rather my base products didn’t do that, too.

 

I always get define and conceal mixed up and corrected it three times on this blog post alone…

 

I liked the match for C6 against my skin. Surprisingly, Superdrug labels C6 for ‘medium skin tones with peach undertone’ although I have never labelled my skin tone as such and C6 doesn’t obviously seem like that kind of shade either. It’s also surprisingly light and less yellow compared to Maybelline Eye Eraser in Light and Double Wear in 1W2 Sand. It blends out well with a natural, very slight brightening effect due to the difference in shade whereas 1W2 is perhaps the darkest I could go without it looking horrible.

In terms of lasting power, it fares pretty well. I have oily skin and this will inevitably break down on the nose despite a generous dusting of powder. However, it looks far better after a few hours than the Eye Eraser does especially on the upper lip and beneath the chin where the product can also break up at times.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with it and would probably repurchase this again over my other options. Let me know if you’ve tried this and what you thought of it!

Until next time,

X

 

Review: Etude House Dr Mascara Fixer for Perfect Lash

Swanna4 Comments
Hi everyone!
For my birthday a few months back, I treated myself to some stuff from Jolse. Initially, the total was about £50 but I common-sensed it down to about £30. The power of rational thinking is my best weapon against impulse buying. The only thing it doesn’t work on is food… Anyway, I picked up another loose powder, repurchased my favourite Bbia gel liner in new shades and also this eyelash fixer.
I had heard some things about this eyelash primer/top coat product but it was Hoi Yin Li who finally convinced me to pop it onto my shopping list. She was totally right – this is am amazing product that really ups your lash game.
This product costs about $6.46 (£4.89) from the online store, Jolse. It takes two weeks for their orders to reach me in the UK from Korea, and it’s free shipping for all orders.
On the packaging, it states that Dr Mascara Fixer can be used underneath mascaras as a lash primer or over the lashes as a ‘top coat’. The fixer itself has a slightly milky silicone texture, which goes on smoothly and dries to hold the curl. It does stick a few lashes together sometimes so you may have to quickly brush out the lashes before the fixer sets for a fluffy look.
The greatest thing about it is that it really improved the performance of sub-par mascaras, particularly with improving curl-holding. I have an issue with volumising mascaras as my lashes cannot hold the curl with them, but this problem is pretty much eliminated with the addition of the Dr Mascara Fixer, for all the mascaras I have tried with it. I feel like it doesn’t make the mascara pop more in intensity, but it will improve longevity and reduce smudging a bit, used as a primer. After my ‘meh’ review of the Urban Decay Troublemaker mascara, I am now using it up but only with this primer!
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I’ve found that it can pick up a little too much product at times, so I try to scrape off a lot or just to work quickly. It also dries quite stiffly which makes my lashes feel quite different. It does work on the lower lashes as well. However, I didn’t like to use it on its own or as a top coat layer as it does not dry completely clear, with a bit of milky whiteness that tones down my lash colour or the black pigment of my mascara.
When I used this as a top coat and attempted another coat of mascara on top, it mostly caused my lashes to stick together to form the clumpy, spidery effect. So it really only works best with one layer underneath your preferred mascara.
I really love this and I’m sure I’ll buy backups for the future, which won’t be expensive either. Etude House has some real gems in their collection – last year I gifted a bunch of their Proof 10 eye primer out to my friends and it looks like this year I’ll be doing the same with this!
Have you tried any lash primers before?

Until next time,

X

A Peek at my Skincare Diary #1: Short and Sweet

Swanna5 Comments

Gasp! A Saturday post? Yeah, I forgot to schedule some new posts whilst I was panicking over an essay. I have some time to get some posts up and scheduled now, though, so you all have something to read while I am contemplating the inner workings of the mind for my degree!

I initially planned to start this series two months ago, around the time of year I share my skincare wardrobe. Instead of presenting it all as a giant wardrobe last year, I thought it would be interesting to keep a diary and record what I was using on a day-to-day basis. But then I suddenly stopped taking care of my skin, going nights without bothering with a moisturiser, although I could never forgo my thick layer of lip balm. But it meant I stopped keeping track of my skin using my diary, too.

So very slowly, I’ve been reintroducing my skincare routine based on what I am feeling. I’m not sure how long it will last seeing as my exams are really quite fast approaching and I habitually tend to wreck my sleeping and skincare around that time…

But anyway, here’s what I have been reaching for when I actually did bother with basic self-care.

Morning

Dr Organic Hemp Oil Lip Serum

After using this in the morning for at least a year now, I think I am finally using up the last of it! This has an oily but also gel-like texture that’s quite unusual, but I do like it as I want something thin that won’t interfere with my lipstick. It’s only £2.49 from Holland and Barratt, too. I wear it in the morning as soon as I have washed my face, and it stays on mostly until I get to the lipstick stage, when I press it off a bit with the back of my hand before applying lipstick. Of course, the smell will take some getting used to if you’ve never used hemp before – it can be a little unpleasant.

Etude House Moistfull Collagen Emulsion

I think this is actually the first emulsion type product I have tried, and I really like it. It’s most similar to the Western ‘lotion’ although not quite the same thing to me. It’s basically a light moisturiser and sinks in super well which is great in the mornings when I need to layer sunscreen and makeup on top without pilling but also don’t want my skin to be too dry.

I’ve been meaning to write a full review for ages but now I realise there’s not much to say! I’ve been using this for months and I’m only halfway through the bottle, but I will finish this up. I probably won’t repurchase it in favour of something with more ‘wow’ to it.

Kose Suncut Aqualy UV Protect Gel SPF50+ PA++++|Full Review Here

Something about this sunscreen texture is super pleasant so I never shy from reaching for this. It also works really nicely under makeup without pilling which I am very grateful for. However, if oil is a major problem for you then this might not be the best option at all. I really liked using this over the last winter (I just… accepted my oiliness haha) although admittedly I didn’t wear sunscreen every day… I’ll look at other options because I’m a blogger, after all, but this will definitely be repurchased in the future. It’s been over a year of sporadic use and I’m finally getting to the last quarter of the bottle.

Evening

Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser| Review Here

A very gentle and pleasant cleanser! For days of light makeup only. It will also make a good attempt at non-waterproof mascaras without stinging the eyes at all which is a nice bonus, and the rose smell is lovely. I actually don’t have many rose-scented products – for some reason the M&S body product sets that haunted my childhood come to mind – but maybe that can change! My only gripe is the price for the amount but honestly, for this lovely of a cleanser, I would not mind repurchasing it anyway.

Etude House Moistfull Collagen Eye Cream

Again, this eye cream actually isn’t anything special. But I’m twenty and only looking for a standard eye cream that isn’t too rich or too thin, and it doesn’t need to have anti-ageing ingredients at this stage. This is actually the perfect consistency – sort of buttery but not greasy at all – and the scent is actually quite minimal. All that means this is super pleasant to use for me and I’d happily buy it to use again. I’ve almost reached the bottom of my tub which means I need to stop buying new emulsions and essences and buy a new eye cream!! Any suggestions for products with a similar consistency?

COSRX AHA Whitehead Power Liquid

As I often lost track of my routine I have erred on the safe side and avoided my acids. I’m trying to reintroduce it starting weekly but even that is kind of a struggle at the moment! Besides the slightly funky smell which I am sort of used to now, there’s not much to say thus far.

Lanolips 101 Ointment|Review here

Dr Pawpaw Original Balm|Review here

One of my favourite combinations recently. I like to use a thin layer of Lanolips before applying a thick layer of Dr PawPaw, which makes my lips super soft in the morning and easy to exfoliate or even just wipe away the dead skin after morning cleansing. Both are slightly pricier options for lip balm and the PawPaw I feel could easily be replaced with Vaseline or Carmex. As you can see, I currently prefer products in tubes, even over stick-type products.

Overall, this routine takes less than ten minutes out of my morning and evening, and hopefully I can build it up a bit more over the next few months without going too heavy as the summer approaches.

I hope you enjoyed this snippet of skincare and hopefully, as this project develops, we’ll be able to see how my skincare routine evolves and adapts to change to all the seasons!

Until next time,

X