Tuesday 31 December 2013

Best Of 2013: Lips


This post kicks off the first of my 'Best of 2013' series. It will involve mostly make-up but maybe some other products and bits too. Here are the lip products that have seen me well through the lovely year of 2013!

MAC 'Rebel' Lipstick - Link
This has being the perfect lipstick to get me into Autumn this year. I hate it when Summer end but it's the little things like this that make me excited to get into winter and autumn (I really am sad!) Anyway, I love this lipstick and it will be worn right into 2014!

Maybelline 'Cherry Me' Baby Lips - Link
Babylips have being a big hit with bloggers this year and rightly so. Despite only discovering them in the Autumn, I have still worn one almost every day. They will be perfect for Summer too so ar every versatile.

NUXE Reve de Miel Lip Balm - Link
I have being applying this all year round as it soothes and nourishes my lips whether it's the harsh winds in the winter or the blistering heat in the summer. It's extremely moisturising and smells amazing! Definitely worth the investment if you're not used to spending a bit more on lip balms!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lip Pencil in 'Indian Pink' - Link
I have really got into putting lip liners underneath my lipsticks this year. They make your lipstick look more vibrant and last so much longer. I love this colour on it's own too. Rimmel do super affordable lip liners which are of great quality. 

Chubby Lip pencils in general. MUA & Revlon - Link // Link
The market for chubby lip pencils took off with Clinique's offering of the 'Chubby Stick'. Revlon then followed and now by the end of 2013, most brands have this type of lip product. I feel like one of these will be in any make-up lovers lip favourites as their so easy to apply and you can get such a variety of colours and finishes. I have the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous (pictured in the middle) and two of MUA's Power Pout's. 

I found it really hard to cut down to 5 products as I probably have around 100 lip products in my collection, I am obsessed! There are probably a lot I've forgot about but these are probably the most used of the year. Seen as it's the 31st of December right now (and probably 1st of Jan for some!) I will say I hope you had a fantastic 2013 and happy new year!!

Lots of Love,

Alice


SHARE:

Thursday 26 December 2013

Christmas Make-Up Presents ♥

Hello everyone, hope you all had a fab christmas and ate plenty of food! I know I did and I have a ridiculous amount of chocolate to eat up (what a shame!) My mum and sister both know how obsessed with make-up I am, so they bought me these lovely gifts. My mum made the NARS 'At First Sight' eye and cheek palette and the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette part of my christmas gifts, whilst my sister picked up some lovely Max Factor bits.










NARS 'At First Sight' Eye and Cheek Palette
When I opened this, I was in awe! The NARS packaging is so sleek and compact and I love it so much! It contains the infamous Laguna Bronzer, a blush in 'Deep Throat' and 4 eye shadows in the shades 'All About Eve, 'Nouveau Monde', 'Bellissima' and 'Cordura (||)'. I've always ignored the NARS laguna bronzer hype and thought most bronzers were the same... Boy was I wrong! It's finely milled and matte which makes it look extremely natural and gorgeous on the skin. I shot down the hype about their blushers too. Deep throat is a gorgeous light pink colour with a healthy dose of shimmer which is very pigmented, just like the bronzer. The eye shadows are also nicely pigmented and I am impressed with the range of colours. This palette will be going everywhere with me and is so handy for travelling - it will save loads of room!

Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette
This palette has a mix of brown neutral colours with the odd pop of colour. There's a mixture of purple and pink shades with a lovely silver shade thrown in there too. This is more of an experimental palette than the Naked palettes. I love my Naked palette but I think this palette will be better for nights out where I can play around with colours. 

Max Factor Goodies
My sister got me this lovely blush whose colour isn't that far off Deep Throat. She also got me this lovely nail varnish that is a brown/ rose gold shade. It's shimmery on the nails and is perfect for the party season! Finally, she got me this gorgeous lipstick in the shade '685 Mulberry'. I find it difficult to describe the colour but the end of the bullet shows it well. It comes across as super shiny on the lips which I love and the packaging is so sleek too. I've never really heard beauty bloggers talk about Max Factor lipsticks before but the gold packaging makes me think of something YSL would do. Beaut-i-ful!


I'm not too keen on telling everyone everything I got for christmas as I feel those posts can come across as quite arrogant, however I am a nosy gal and love looking at those kind of posts so link them below if you like. I just thought I'd show you all these gorgeous make-up gifts I received as I am ridiculously excited to play around with them. I can tell NARS is going to be my new obsession which isn't good for my purse, woops!

Have you got any of these products? If so, what do you think of them?


Lots of Love,

Alice


SHARE:

Monday 23 December 2013

Home For Chistmas





Yay, I get my double bed back!

Room for all my products!

Cute Christmas Hamper made by my friend

Wrapping Presents


Hello Everyone, hope you're all getting excited for Christmas! 
Being at university is a strange thing, as you feel like you have 2 homes. Coming home for Christmas is very strange as it doesn't really feel like home as it did before uni. Things I love about my house and took for granted are my double bed, a power shower, a dishwasher and lots of heating! Haha! However there are things that kind of make me sad to be away from uni: feeling lonely. At uni there's so many people your age about whereas here it's just my family. As much as I love my family, getting told what to do etc is a very strange thing when I've being doing what I want for months.

Anyway, the house looks so pretty with all the decorations up so I thought I'd share some pics on here. I can't wait for lots of food, opening and exchanging presents and watching lots of Christmas films! I haven't really put a christmassy post on here so thought this would be a nice little post :) Merry Christmas!!


Lots of Love,

Alice


SHARE:

Tuesday 17 December 2013

Haul // Gift Ideas

Christmas time is such an expensive time and is very hard when you're a student like me. By bank account is getting closer to the value of £0 and I am so determined to not have to go into my overdraft! Thankfully this semester is almost over and I can go back to having lovely home cooked meals. Anyway, I thought I would show you all what I got some people for christmas (and some for myself, oops!) There's a few gift ideas here, perfect for those on a budget.


For A Friend: Sanctuary Body Butter Collection & Baby Lips. - Link // Link
The Sanctuary is a gorgeous brand sold in Boots. They're products are luxurious at affordable prices. I feel like this would be a great present for a friend you may not know as well, a secret santa or just part of a big present for your best friend! It's currently £7.50 in boots so go check it out.
I also got some Maybelline Baby Lips in 'Cherry Me' for a couple of people as little extras. I also got myself one as I love my 'Pink Punch' baby lips so much.

For Dad: Gillette Razor and Blades. - Link
Bit of a weird thing to be putting on my blog I guess, but I feel it's a good present to buy your dad if you don't know what to get him. Gillette is a brilliant brand for razors and they are really good quality. The Gillette fusion is a male razor but even I use it sometimes! It never cuts you but can be quite expensive for a razor compared to the disposable ones you can get. I'm sure my dad will appreciate this as a present anyway (he better).

For Me: Baby Lips, Primark Hair Bobbles & The L'Oreal Color Appeal Eyeshadow in 'Golden Rose'. - Link 
I desperately needed some hair bobbles (or ties, whatever you like to call them) and thought Primark was the best place to go. I love how they have pastel bobbles! Event though it's winter I still love a good pastel. Moving on to my favourite product that I bought: this L'Oreal beauty! This eyeshadow is a rose gold colour, similar to All That Glitters by MAC, but slightly more shimmery/glittery. It's great to wear for a night out on just swept over the lid in the daytime.






As you can see by the number of pictures, I really enjoyed playing with this product. The colour is stunning and I can't wait to wear this on a night out. I've always wanted to try one of L'Oreal's Infallible Eyeshadows so that will be the next on my list! I have a list as long as my arm at the moment, so I will probably be soon doing a make-up wishlist post and there will definitely be some beauties on there! Follow my blog on bloglovin to see that :)

Lots of Love,

Alice

SHARE:

Wednesday 11 December 2013

The Winter Lip-care Line Up





As you can see I've being playing around with my new camera and exploring different angles and lighting with blog photography. The lighting becomes increasingly difficult as the days get shorter, especially when I live in university halls of residence and windows are far and few between. The winter darkness is rather depressing when you leave as it's getting light and return in the dark. Anyway, getting on to the point of the post... lip products. Aka my favourite thing to talk about when it comes to make-up. Most people get super sore lips during winter and I'm definitely one of those people. Even when indoors, my lips are so dry because of the heating *I type whilst slapping on my Nuxe Lipbalm*. I believe the products in this post make my lips lovely and moisturised and prevent the horrible licking of the lips technique that is, oh so tempting, but makes them 100% worse. 

LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub - Link
Applying lip balm alone with not stop those lips from damage if a lip scrub isn't used beforehand. A lip scrub will remove all the dead skin cells and make a smooth base for a lip balm or whatever lipstick you decide to apply. I recommend the lush ones; they're handmade and for a fiver you can't really go wrong. Another positive of this one in particular is the fact it's nice to eat too. Always a bonus!

Korres Lip Butter: Guava - Link
I recently got this whilst in Waitrose (never knew Korres was stocked there!) and it was on a deal for around £5. As any beauty addict would, I got over excited as it's usually £8 both in Waitrose and online. On a whim, I picked up 'Guava' as I remembered reading about it on a few blog posts in the past. I kind of wished I'd picked up Wild Rose or Jasmine as these ones had a tint to them, however I feel they will barge their way into my possession some time in the near future. However, this is a nice one on a no make-up day and is really moisturising.

Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm - Link
Yes I have this in pot AND stick form, one for home and one for on the go, and only because I love the product so much. I always thought £10 was a bit steep for a lip balm, so after hearing so many good things I decided I needed it in my life. (As you can see, I am easily persuaded by other bloggers and their recommendations and easily give in to hype.) I am so glad I took the plunge because it's probably the best out of the bunch. There's a sweet smell to it, almost like honey, and you can instantly tell it's being made from natural ingredients. Once you get used to the thick-ish consistency of it (NOT sticky), then you will really appreciate how good for your lips this is.

Nivea Hydrocare Lip Balm - Link
This cheap and cheerful product is probably the most hydrating, as the name suggests. I believe it puts water back into your lips, preventing them from being dehydrated. It's extremely handy for on the go really does make my lips feel quenched.

Maybelline Baby Lips: Pink Punch - Link
Last but not least is the hype that is the baby lips. Not as hydrating as the other products, but definitely moisturising in comparison to lipsticks and glosses. If you want to finish off your pout with some colour, then this is definitely worth a try as it is moisturising and gives a great pop of colour. I literally wear this every day now, as lipsticks have become too drying and are quite frankly, a pain in the bum to keep reapplying.

So there we have my essential lip-care products to get me through the winter months. Forget dry, chapped lips and embrace the winter lip-care line up. You don't have to spend a lot; a simple lip scrub and lip balm will do the job. As a beauty and make-up addict, I like variety but it's not essential, haha!
What are your favourite winter lip products? Comment below!

Lots of Love,

Alice


SHARE:

Saturday 7 December 2013

November Favourites


Origins Make A Difference Plus + Rejuvenating Treatment - Link
I received this as part of the Moisturise and be merry gift set (post about it here) and I can say it is my new favourite moisturiser. When paired over their serum, my skin never fails to feel juicy and moisturised the next morning; almost like I've just applied it. The pot is so handy and the packaging makes it look quite luxurious. I now am a new fan of Origins as a brand as I was so impressed by this product.

Nails Inc Kate Spade Nail Polish in Big Apple Red
Every time Glamour come out with an issue involving a free high end gift, I'm sold. I have tried a few Nails Inc polishes and have never being disappointed. This is a true red colour and looks so classic on the nails; definitely my fave polish at the moment!

No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation - Link
This foundation + Real Techniques Buffing Brush = Flawless finish. I absolutely love this foundation in terms of coverage and finish. It contains SPF but it still makes you look lovely and matte. It photographs well and contains salicylic acid to ensure your skin doesn't get clogged. When a product both benefits the skin and makes it look good, it always has a place in my favourites. 

Origins Make A Difference Rejuvenating Cleansing Milk - Link
I'm a huge fan of the Murad Blemish Control Clarifying Cleanser, especially when I'm in the shower. However, I find this cleansing milk by Origins to be an easier option when I want to quickly take my make-up off and jump into bed. At first I was apprehensive and thought it may break me out, but much like the rest of the Origins set, it hasn't! It's moisturising as well as cleansing, so my skin doesn't feel dry. I really feel like the origins products make my skin produce less oil due to being so moisturised, hence gaining a better complexion. These products may have to creep into my yearly favourites that I will be doing at the end of the year!

LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub - Link
Now the cold weather has well and truly crept in, chapped lips are an issue for most girls (and even boys). I love a good lip balm and I have a fair few, but what use are they if you have flaky lips? A lip scrub is a brilliant way to smooth out the lips before applying balm and this product does the job well. It also happens that it smells nice and tastes yummy too!

Molecule 01 Perfume - Link
I did a post about my love for this here, so I don't need to say too much. I have had so many compliments on my smell despite not being able to smell anything myself. It's a great product that I will most definitely be repurchasing.
Benefit Benetint - Link
I went back to this product recently as I can't really be bothered with lipstick at the moment. I love how this product makes my lips look natural and like I'm not wearing anything. I pop this on with a bit of lip balm and I'm done! This is a small size I got free in a magazine quite a while ago and I'd love to repurchase it, however, due to being a student I may have to look for a cheaper alternative that does the same thing. 

Anyone else done a November favourites this month? Would love to hear what you've being loving.

Lots of Love,

Alice

SHARE:
© wellnessalice | All rights reserved.
Blogger Template Created by pipdig