Less of your lip

Phew. For a number of different reasons, this week has been very strange and stressful. I promise you there were a couple of great FOTDs, but I just forgot to take photos of them. I will hopefully get back on track after Easter.

In the meantime, I thought I would show you a few of the lip products I like and regularly reach for, plus a new acquisition. As I've said before, I much prefer glosses and glazes to fully pigmented lips. I'm no good with a liner as my lips are a bit wonky, I often find lipstick drying and I like food too much to carefully apply a gorgeous lipstick and then not ruin it with elevenses. As I've already gone through my Julie Hewett faves, I'm leaving those out.
 

 First of all, a shot of my bare lips. They're fairly pigmented and I learned a couple of years ago that the likes of GOSH Darling and MAC Blankety make me look ill, so I tend to steer clear of those 'nude' shades. My preferred natural lip is a sheerish, glossy berry.

The first batch of faves in the tube, and here they are on the lips:

1. Lipstick Queen - Medieval
This is the new acquisition. As a big fan of the LQ Butterfly Ball lipsticks, I have been lemming this for ages. The shade is supposed to represent the colour achieved in Medieval times when women applied lemon juice to their lips to stimulate blood flow. I don't know about that, but I really like this lip product. Like the Butterfly ball lipsticks, Medieval is lightweight with a glaze finish and feels incredibly moisturising in the lips. The shade is marketed as a 'suits all' so I'd be interested to hear what other Medieval users think.

2. Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips - Jessica
I have a few of these BE plumping glosses, but this is my favourite. The mini size came in a kit with shadows and blush and whilst they don't see much action, Jessica is regularly in use. The gloss is a sort of peachy pink duochrome with a shot of fine gold shimmer. Like the other BE Buxoms, it smells of coffee and caramel and has a slightly warming and tingling effect on the lips. It doesn't seem to plump mine, but I don't really like those sort of products anyway. The tube includes a doe foot applicator, which I don't particularly mind but I know some people hate. BE often does sets of 4 of these glosses which I think are good value for money. In fact there's a set on QVC I have my eye on at the moment.

3. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Lip Gloss - Rose Sugar
Like the rest of the world, I hate the brush. The stupid, scratchy, splayed out brush that eventually becomes an obstacle to applying the product. I really love the lipgloss though. This shade was used on me when I had a Bobbi Brown makeover at House of Fraser and it was one of the products I purchased on the spot (the others were a bronzer and an undereye concealer). It is the perfect shade if I want to look professionally polished. There is enough pigment to even out my lips with a natural mauve, a small amount of shimmer and it's not too sticky. If they repackaged this product, I would buy more shades.

4. Maybelline Watershine Gloss - Mauve Star
This has a similar base shade to the Bobbi Brown Rose Sugar but with less shimmer and more glitter, although they are fine particles of gold so it's not too disco on the lips. I have three of these glosses and I love the absence of stickiness. They are easy to apply and have one of those slightly longer doe foots that have more flexibility than the short ones. There is a strong smell of something fruity but if you don't mind that, I highly recommend these glosses - there's a good range of colours and they are fab value for money.

Now on to the second batch of products

1. Clinique Almost Lipstick - Black Honey
I have used this lipstick since I was a teenager and read a recommendation from a make-up artist in a magazine. I had never bought from Clinique before and I hovered shyly at the counter before rummaging through the testers. When I found Black Honey I immediately chastised myself for getting it wrong, surely this very dark lipstick could not 'suit everyone' as the MUA had suggested? Upon swatching it I saw immediately that this lipstick was actually a sheer, rosy brown and a new love was born. In the years since I have bought numerous tubes, recommended it to dozens of friends and gasped in horror when I heard it was to be discontinued. Happily, it was saved and I intend to keep buying this gorgeous shade.

2. Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick - Vintage Pink
I don't often look at drugstore brand lipsticks, just as I don't often look at high end lipsticks. Seeing this shade reminded me that lipsticks can be just my cup of tea occasionally. Vintage Pink is a soft shade of mauvey pink with a moisturising and lightweight finish. It also works well topped with the Bobbi Brown or Maybelline glosses in my list for a neutral, polished look. Like a lot of women, Rimmel holds a special place in my heart thanks to the Heather shimmer lippie I used to have rolling around in my school bag. The lipsticks still smell the same, so I get the nostalgia trip without the frosted pink lips.

3. Fresh lipgloss - Sugar Fairy
I got this in Sephora on my last trip to NY. It came in a set with Supernova mascara, which I didn't like as much as I thought I would. The gloss is another story, it's non-sticky, very moisturising and has that incredible lemon and sugar smell that Fresh turned into a perfume. It does not smell artificial to me, but like a freshly baked lemon drizzle cake. Yum. It's a pretty sheer pink with micro glitter and I really love it as part of a summer look.

4. Jemma Kidd Ultimate Lip Care SPF12 - Apricot
I bought this to make-up the value of a online purchase in order to qualify for a GWP. I was expecting it to be a glossy balm with a hint of colour and so was quite surprised to find the texture is more like a lipstick and has quite a lot of colour. 'Apricot' translates to a juicy peach on my lips and has a fair amount of shimmer. As this is a lip care product, it does a nice job of moisturising my lips, but it also lasts quite well. I got it just before Christmas, so I'm looking forward to using it in the summer.

So there you go. I have a lot more lip products than that so I think I need a sort out. These are some of the items I reach for more frequently and that I know I can apply on the run without a mirror - my basic requirement for a lip colour!

what are your favourites?

Blue flash

I don't wear much make-up at the weekends. Despite my love for it, I prefer my weekend routine to be quite different to that of the week. This means no alarms, no hair dryer, a decent breakfast and no faffing with foundation and blending.

Yesterday's crisp air and blue sky inspired me to wear my new H&M Breton stripe top and try the bright blue pearl paint in my Yaby palette. I defined my brows, washed a silvery grey across my lid and into the crease and then used an angled brush to draw a rough line of the bright blue shade along my lashline. Precision was jettisoned in favour of speed, but I was happy with the final look.


I dotted MAC Select Moisture Cover concealer where needed, dusted E.L.F Complexion Perfection powder over my face and finished with a hint of Bobbi Brown blusher in sandwash pink and a slick of Lipstick Queen 15 minutes of fame gloss (a random colour from 'The Nudes' Christmas gift set).

It took all of ten minutes to do, lasted well and withstood a visit to the supermarket, a trip round TK Maxx and a few afternoon drinks with my bezzie. Poi-fict!

Club inspiration - FOTD

Like a lot of people interested in make-up, I am a huge fan of Pixiwoo's make-up tutorials and get a real thrill each time one shows up in my subscriptions. These talented make-up artist sisters have shown me quick looks for every day, glitzy looks for a night out, recreated screen siren and celebrity looks and pushed the envelope with some edgier or more flamboyant faces. I can't recommend them enough.

After watching a video the other day on using MAC's Club eyeshadow, I decided to try it this morning as a quick way to get made up before work.

Optimus Primer and FOTD

After Thursday's woefully shiny face of the (end of the) day, I decided on Friday to A) remember to photograph it in the morning and B) remember to use a primer to see if it made any difference.

While I was at uni, I had a job at home during the holidays at a Harvester-style pub down the road. I did waitressing and bar work but my favourite was in the kitchen. To my mind chef's whites are one of the few ways you can practically wear pajamas to your place of work. It was a hot and steamy atmosphere, but unfortunately not because the rest of the kitchen staff looked like George Clooney. It was more to do with the massive steak griddle, the humungous pots of veg on the stoves and the halogen heat lamps at the pass. I really enjoyed it, but I spent most of the time looking like a sweaty tomato.

At least I had a good excuse. Nowadays when I come home from my catering-free work environment, I still seem to look like I've been slinging Surf 'n' Turfs all day and my make-up has slid off. The eyes are usually okay, thanks to Urban Decay's Primer Potion, but the cheeks, chin and forehead tell a different story.