What my lips are loving: pearls and pink champagne!

Who can resist pearls and bubbles? If you can, you're a stronger woman than me. With the changing seasons and the winter chill setting in, I've started thinking about looking after my poor lips, which like to get all yucky and dry in winter. In order to keep them soft and pretty, I've been stockpiling goodies! Two of my latest favourites are my new lippie from the MAC cremesheen and pearl collection, and a limited edition Vaseline. Vaseline you say? Yes but not just any Vaseline :)

First up, Shanghai Spice from MAC.

 

I've blown this up so you can see how pretty the sheen is on this. The pearl in the lipstick is very delicate, not as obvious as I would have expected, but feminine and lovely. The shade itself is a delicate rose nude shade, it's a very grown up shade for me! 

This lipstick feels gorgeous on, very classy and Kate Middleton. I'm thinking nude heels and a navy dress (preferably with champers in hand). Talking of champers...

Look at that! Sorry I just had to put it in a glass, for the record I did polish it beforehand but it seems to have my grubby pawprints all over it lol. I saw this in the supermarket the other day and let out a little squeal of delight!

At the end of the day, it's just another Vaseline but it's so much more luxurious to carry about with you than plain old Vaseline. On reading the back, it actually does have alcohol and wine extract in it, and you can smell it in the balm.

The scent is rose based I'd say, but with a tingly sweet scent that definitely smells like champagne, it's lovely and lasts when you have it on. The tin claims that it tints your lips slightly, as you can see above the product is very light in colour, it makes no difference whatsoever lookswise once on. It does however feel lovely, smell delicious and the tin is super girly and decadent. On an aside, this looks great over Benefit's Cha Cha tint on your lips!

Well there you go, lovelies. Pearls and champagne for the weekend. It's Friday so pouts at the ready, if you want to give your lips a VIP upgrade, I'd recommend these products.

8/10 for the MAC as it could be more pigmented and 10/10 for the Vaseline as a favourite staple

Live Beautifully!

Isn't that a nice sentiment? Live your life beautifully, I think there's a lot to be said for that. On that note, I was trawling etsy looking for unusual gifts for the other half's 30th bday and stumbled upon Live Beautifully, an American company owned by a presumably very happy couple who make all natural beauty. A distant bell rang in my head somewhere and I realised I had seen this company before on one of the blogs I read and seen the beautiful packaging as the parcel arrived. Much excited by this, I placed an order and waited eagerly for its delivery from America!

I love all the handmade touches they have added to the products and the packaging. Each of the products has a lovely natural scent made with real whole ingredients that work (they use organic oils). The packaging is inspired by an old French boutique and I think it is gorgeous. I also like the hand signed note saying thanks, really personal.

These are three of their beautiful lip balms, in sampler sizes. The large versions are 5 dollars each, but I got three of these little ones for $5 which seemed like a really good option if you just want to try them for the first time. I was drawn to the Southern Peach Rose firstly, it sounded like such a delicate feminine fragrance, and the other combinations sounded just as delightful, but I ended up with Sweet Strawberry Honesuckle and Creamsicle Dreamsicle. Check out their full range at their etsy store. There are some stunning scents available like Black Chocolate Berry and Cotton Candy Dreaming. The descriptions are lovely and so are the pictures. Everything feels very wholesome and classic. I've only tried the Creamsicle Dreamsicle so far but it's lovely. Quite light in consistency but soothing on the lips, a nice summer balm. Probably not thick enough for the winter or for very dry or chapped lips, but this would be perfect for a top up during the day or as a base for a lipstick. The scents are stunning, however and actually smell of what they claim to without smelling artificial or sickly sweet.

As you can see I was on a bit of a lip-product rampage! This is one of their whipped lip butters in Raspberry and Vanilla, it looks a bit like a sugar scrub but it's actualy a smooth salve with little bubbles of lip butter that burst when you smooth them onto your lips. This is slightly thicker and more moisturising texture than the other balms, and it also smells delicious! These are around $5.00 each.

I really like this company, I like their ethos, their handmade packaging and their lovingly made products. Check them out here! You can pay by PayPal through their etsy store, which is secure and very handy and their delivery charges are very reasonable.

*This post is not sponsored and all items have been purchased by myself

Nuxe Reve De Miel Lip Balm

Hey guys!

Hope you are all having a mini heatwave like we are in Scotland at the moment, can't believe it's so warm at this time of year, it makes your days go a bit more quickly I think! The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is in full swing, if you haven't heard of it before, Wikipedia says it's the worlds largest arts festival. Ever since going to high school in Edinburgh as a teen I've loved how the whole city comes to live and is flooded with entertainers and tourists from all around the world. From ventriloquism and street dance groups to famous comedians, theater and music, there is so much going on. If you've never been, I'd recommend it. Lots of areas of the city are set up at night as pop up bars too so the night life is great!

I promise I don't work for the tourist board haha! But it is awesome so check it out if you can. The actual purpose of this post was to review the much acclaimed Reve De Miel Lip Balm by Nuxe, one of the items I had picked up in France, photographed in my mum's house in France, on her lovely cushion!!

 

If you don't know what this is, it's another "cult" product that has being doing the rounds on some beauty blogs and vlogs that I read/watch. As it's a French product and notoriously difficult to get ahold of here, I decided to try and get one when I was away. I was a little shocked to hear that it's £10 in Selfridges in London but the reviews were raving about it. I got it for around 9 euros in a pharmacie, so that was a bit more manageable but my inner cheapskate was still balking at the price when my beloved chapstick is a pound!

You also get a generous 15grams of product, and the packaging is beautiful. The pot is glass and the lid is a smooth white plastic, and the box it comes in is sturdy and pretty to look at. I really like products in chunky glass pots, and I like the frosting. It feels worth the money, but is the product any good?

I was a bit disappointed/confused when I saw the little bubbles or cracks on the surface, but they literally disappear the first time you swipe your finger across the surface. The product itself is a gorgeous buttery consistency, quite thick and very smooth. You don't need a lot and it doesn't show or look shiny on your lips, which is good if you wanted to put a matte lipstick on over it. I can see what all the fuss was about, I tend to put this on at night and wake up with baby soft lips, I haven't had any flaking or peeling at all! The main attraction for me with this product, however, is the smell. This smells lightly of honey but more so of oranges and grapefruits, I love it. I keep opening it just to sniff it! So guys, there's room up here on this bandwagon if you fancy getting on it. It's definitely worth the hype.

I'm away to enjoy the sun, but will be announcing my first giveaway very shortly so keep checking back!

Glamour Magazine Freebies

Who doesn't love a good freebie? I don't tend to buy magazines normally, the majority of the articles are available online and I hate wasting paper. This is why I feel especially guilty buying multiple copies of a magazine just to get the range of freebies. Glamour magazine in the UK really spoil us with the freebies they have, from Clinique and Benefit to the latest offering, Balance Me. This month you can choose from an eye cream, moisturiser, face wash and lip salve, each worth £11-12 each!

So far I've just picked up the lip salve, face wash and eye cream, as I have facial moisturisers galore, but I'm tempted to pick it up now that I've tried the other items. BalanceMe is a brand based on natural products, which is huge right now for any brand. It's fairly expensive as a brand but you get what you pay for. Check out their website to find out more about their philosophy and product range.

This wonder eye cream claims to soothe, brighten and lift. It smells lovely, very natural as you would expect. I have sensitive eyes so was worried any essential oils would irritate them. My worries were unfounded, this cream is lovely and really does make you feel as though your eyes have opened up, it is very refreshing and wakes you right up! Really love this product, and having only paid £2.00 for the magazine it is an amazing deal.

Next up we have the Pure Skin Face wash for normal to combination skin, which I was very excited to try. Not that I need any more face washes, but I like the fact that this has no sulphates in it. Obviously, this does not lather as such on your skin, it is more like a mixture between a gel and a balm but with a lighter consistency. Still smells gorgeous, and when you wash it off you don't feel like your skin has been stripped of all its natural oils.

Last up is my favourite product of the three, the rose otto intensive lip salve. I read reviews of this online before getting the magazine, and liked the idea that it goes on as a thick gel then melts away into the lips. It really does! Salve generally suggests to me a rubbish watery product that doesn't do much (I HATE the Cow Shed one). I like to feel that something is actually on my lips, but also don't like sticky lip products (fussy much?) This does what it says on the tin, it's natural, smells lightly but inoffensively of roses, and intensively moisturises. This really is a great product, and my Chapstick and Eos balms have been replaced temporarily. I've also been making women in my work try this too.

If you are going on holiday and want a treat with your magazine at the airport, or just want a little treat in general, I would definitely recommend getting Glamour. I'm even considering getting ANOTHER one of the lip salves, I definitely don't need it but it's such a great deal and I'll probably regret not getting another one (I only picked up one of the little Porefessionals and regretted it!). Get to the newsagents!! NOW!

Yankee Candle makes lip balm??

Can you hear my bank account shrieking in the background? Yes, Yankee Candle make lipbalms now. WOOHOO! I adore Yankee Candles and frequently trawl ebay trying to find samplers for our flat, I have about 12 on the go at the moment :( So, when I came across this listing for Yankee lip balms I knew I had to get one. There isn't a great selection of fragrances, I really didn't fancy a Christmas one in June, so I settled for Sweet Strawberry!

How cute is that?! I haven't got the strawberry sampler at the moment so I can't compare the scents unfortunately but I can tell you this smells AMAZING, like strawberry laces. It doesn't taste of them though! The lid is a bit of a pain in the arse to get off the first time, but I love how the packaging looks like the big jars. It's a good size to stick in your handbag and the lid doesn't fall off.

This is after I managed to wrestle off the lid! It's a cherry red, pinky sort of colour in the packaging but goes on pretty much clear. It reminds me a lot of cherry chapstick actually, the consistency and formula are very similar, which I like as I was a cherry chapstick fan before Katy Perry made it "cool" *sigh*. You twist the product up from the bottom which is handy and pretty hygienic, and for £3.99 (free postage) you get 4g of product. Oh and it's SPF 15!

Don't think you can see it properly but the lid has "Yankee Candle" on the top. Too cute. I think these would be good for presents. It's not the most amazing lipbalm I've ever used but it works, smells great and the packaging is adorable. I probably won't buy more than one of these as it's more of a quirky item but I highly recommend you get one for your collection or to give to a friend!

10/10 for the idea, but will not repurchase