Beauty Review: Mac Amplified Creme Lipstick in Morange

I seem to have acquired a lot of Mac products recently, I've always been more of a Lime Crime or Illamasqua kinda gal but seeing all the posts about Mac had me wondering if I was missing out on something? I love bold lipstick, especially for a night out so I naturally gravitated towards Morange.

I prefer a matte finish but went with this one purely based on the colour alone, it is a blood orange/red which reminds me of Nars Heat-wave (but this leans more to a orange hue then red). I do really love the pigment in this and it looks great in the warmer months. The one down side I would say would be the finish, but hey that depends on your personal preference. 

Have you tried Morange?

The Pink Parcel Review : May 2015

Pink Parcel is a monthly subscription box designed to arrive just before your monthly cycle. This company has been around for a while but as I always get the monthly Birchbox, I was unsure about subscribing to this. The parcel contains your choice of sanitary products with a selection of beauty products and treats. They currently have an offer on at the moment where you can try a box for the discount price of £5.99! 

You just need to input your cycle dates to calculate when you would like to receive your box. My box contained a pouch marked 'for now' containing tampons that you can easily keep in your handbag and two separate boxes of tampons. The other box marked 'for you' contained the beauty and treats for a much needed pick me up! 

Aside from the sanitary products, I received the following:

Anatomicals Botanical Hydrating Rose Face Mask

Montezuma's Organic Milk Chocolate With Butterscotch

Flamingo Candle Tropical Coconut Milk & Honey Scent Melt

L'Occitane Essential Water

Fudge Kitchen Drinking Fudge

Richard Ward Clay Mineral Masque Treatment

I really loved the selection of products and they are really well-thought out! My favourite product has to be the Flamingo Candle Wax melt, it is highly scented and I would definitely purchase this again. Overall for £5.95 I am impressed with this box but if I had paid the full price of £9.99 I'm not sure I would feel the same way. I am however really excited to test out all the products, especially the drinking fudge! I think this is really good idea but for me the price would need to be a bit lower for me to be happy to order this every month.

Have you tried the Pink Parcel Box? What are your thoughts?

Charlotte 

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Beauty Review: NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder

Nars is a brand I have never really even considered buying before. I tend to stick with brands I know deliver from personal experience, but after browsing the Beauty Bazaar store in Liverpool I changed my mind. The range of foundation for pale skin is actually quite amazing and after purchasing the sheer glow foundation I was also recommended this product.

Nars Light Reflecting powder is for setting makeup and I was recommended this based on problems I have controlling excess oil on my t-zone. When I first saw it i'll admit I thought great another add on product I will never use. I have spent so much money on pre primer, primer, setting sprays and powders that I just decided to go back to basics. But this product is different, it actually works!

It is a translucent powder but looks white in the box that reflects light and keeps your makeup in place. It is not shiny and only acts as a setting product to be worn on top of your makeup. The first time I used it with my foundation I really noticed the difference at the end of the day. Usually by 9pm my makeup has mostly faded but with this powder it was still looking fresh. Other coloured powders tend to make my face look cakey and highlight my dry areas but so far I have had no problems like that with this.

I swatched the powder above, as you can see when heavily applied it looks white but once blended in it is completely translucent. It also softens the look of fine lines while fading the appearance of large pores. It feels very silky on the skin after application and only needs the odd touch up throughout the day. I use my Real technique brush for blending and it really is effortless.

Because its a pressed powder it does last for a long time, I use this product daily and after months of use I still have a lot left. This is a holy grail product especially for oil prone skin! With the summer months coming up I know how this will make a huge difference for my makeups staying power.

Do you use a setting powder? What do you think about Nars?


Charlotte
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A/W 14 Autumn Daze - How To Style A Polo-Neck Dress

A/W 14 Autumn Daze by dottedvelvet 

Uniqlo dress/ Falke black patterned pantyhose / Converse sneaker / Billabong backpacks bag / Burberry scarve / Betsey Johnson black umbrella / Urban decay eyeshadow / Giorgio Armani perfume fragrance / Eos lip treatment / Nail polish

This season I am loving all the autumn trends, especially the polo neck dress. I have styled a outfit incorporating this trend with a ox-blood theme featuring the must have product - a tartan scarf.

A/W is my favourite season for fashion, there is nothing like wrapping up warm with your favourite knitwear for the winter day ahead. The ox-blood theme is dominating fashion and beauty at the moment, which is one of my favourite colours and is so versatile to wear. 

This week I have chosen a lambswool polo-neck dress to be pair with black tights, burgundy accessories, converse and a tartan scarf. I always think a polo-neck is quite difficult to style because it can quite easily look old and dowdy but I love this look and will be investing in one in this year. 

Will you be incorporating any of these trends into your wardrobe? 

What do you think of the ox-blood trend?

My Top 4 Christmas Beauty Advent Calendars

I know it's only November but with the Christmas countdown just around the corner, there has been massive hype over beauty advent calendars. All with various price tags and lots of great products, why have chocolate when you can have a new beauty item everyday? 

I've compiled the following list of my top four, in terms of the products and the value for money per calendar window.

The Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar- RRP £149.00 

£5.95 Per Window 

This one has to be my absolute favourite, it's a great mix of different high-end brands such as Nars, Diptyque, Dermalogica, C.O.Bigelow and many more. The packaging is beautiful as expected from a company like Liberty, which is well known for it's prints. I think this stands out for me as it isn't just make-up; It also features skin-care, hair-care and even a candle but the price is high considering they are all travel sizes. If money was no issue I would splurge for this but for that price you could get a beauty subscription box every month for a year, so that seems like a better option. Although maybe not as exciting.

Benefit Candy Coloured Countdown-RRP £60 

£2.40 Per Window

I'm no stranger to the Benefit brand, I've loved it for many years but because I have sampled most of their products this for me just wouldn't be a good investment. Again, it's a great mix of all their top selling products and who wouldn't want a benefit treat every single day. The theme of the calendar is candy inspired and really cutesy in keeping with benefits usual branding. A great purchase if you want to try out all their products and the price isn't too expensive for the quality of samples in this.Ciate Mini Manor Nail Polish Advent Calendar - RRP £49.00 

£2.00 Per Window

Nail polish fanatic? This one is for you. Ciate is a great quality polish, I first sampled it in a Birchbox and was really impressed with the pigment and longevity of the polish. This is a collection of 24 mini polishes and a full size one for Christmas day. I think this is a great purchase as it will most likely last you a year until next Christmas; and it features 17 of its bestsellers. With such a variety in colours and a full-size product, I would be most likely to invest in this one out of all of the calendars.

The Body Shop Beauty Advent Calendar-RRP £50 

£2.00 Per Window

Nothing says Christmas quite like the body shop, I've got stacks of body butters from christmas' past and I am still hooked. Featuring everything from soaps and body butter to their new glazed apple and wild argan-oil range, with very generous sizes up to 60 ml.This is a lovely little calendar, good value and a diverse range of their products. 

Overall, the Ciate Mini Mani calendar is probably the one I would go for as I love nail polishes and the price is reasonable for what you get.There are many other beauty calendars such as Jo Malone, Tesco, Selfridges, No 7, Elemis and L'Occitane to check out .

Will you be purchasing a beauty calendar this year? What's your favourite?

Smashbox Studio Skin 15 Hour Wear Foundation - 1.1

Many pale girls will know the struggle to find the perfect foundation shade is real. I am always trying to get the balance between it actually matching my skin tone and not make me look like Casper. So after reading a lot of reviews on this foundation I thought it could have major potential. I visited a Smashbox counter at my local boots and after talking to the assistant, I quickly handed over my card and was so excited to test this out.

I went for the lightest shade which is 1.1 and I hoped so much that this was for me. After previously researching, I discovered that all Smashbox cosmetics are made specifically for oil prone skin so I thought I had hit the jackpot with this one. I had it tested on my skin-tone in the shop and it looked lovely and felt amazing, it isn't too thick and it has a medium coverage but it is buildable.

Unfortunately to my horror, when I looked in the mirror in natural lighting I noticed I had a very visible foundation line from my face to my neck. I've tried various blending and application techniques but unfortunately this shade is way too dark for me, I have listed below the pros and cons of this product because I actually really like it. I am so fussy when it comes to foundations but this one is really good, if you can find it your shade that is.

Pros:

1. It really is long lasting and it does stay on all day when used with the primer

2. It doesn't settle in creases, which is amazing!

3. Fragrance free, I don't really ever understand the need to add fragrance to makeup 

4. You don't need to apply much to achieve a medium, natural coverage

Cons:

1. The lightest shade is still very dark compared with other brands. The closest I've been to my actually shade is still Bobbi Brown in Porcelain

2. If you have any dry patches it will highlight these areas. It is formulated for oily skin, so I really wouldn't recommend this product if you don't struggle with this issue

3. It doesn't cover red blemishes. Which isn't really a huge problem but concealer is a must with this foundation

Overall, if this product released a much lighter shade I would repurchase it in a heartbeat. I love the staying power and I am really disappointed it doesn't match my skin tone at all. As you can see from the swatches it is relatively dark. I would say if you are thinking off buying this foundation make sure you have a great skincare routine, as with most mattifying foundations it will highlight any dry patches but for now the search is still on....

Have you tried this foundation? What did you think?

Liverpool Fashion Week with Mallzee

Last week I was lucky enough to attend Liverpool Fashion Week as part of my role as a brand ambassador for Mallzee (See previous post). Liverpool is well known for its fashion sense and I was really excited to see what was in store. I attended the high street and online shows on the Wednesday Night, which featured the following brands: Peacocks, John Lewis, Blue Inc, Slaters, Dorothy Perkins, Burtons menswear and Oh Polly. The event is held annual and is now in its fifth year! The organiser Amanda Moss is also the owner of Lifestyle magazine, so this lady definitely knows a thing or two about fashion.  

I was there as part of the mallzee team to promote the recent competition to win a £1000 holiday wherever you want to go. We had our own promotional stall at the event and got chatting to lots of local fashionistas. If anyone is interested in entering (and why wouldn't you be?) Contact me for your own unique code for your chance to win! 

After promoting the competition we took our seats to watch the first show, it was really great to see models of all ages and shapes representing high street stores and there wasn't a scouse brow in sight (phew!). The main colour trends featured in the womenswear collections were colbalt blue and coral which I love for A/W wear. I'm a big fan of adding a pop of colour to my outfits during the cold wintery days and I managed to snap a few shots below of the trends below.

The main trends in the menswear were burgundy, sky blue and checks.  Overall the event was such great fun and it was great to get some inspiration for my A/W wardrobe. To browse the looks featured in this post check out the mallzee app to effortly search through the stores or even create your own style feed. 

 Did you attend Liverpool Fashion Week? What are your thoughts on the new colour trends?

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