all about that glitter: lips, nails and eye make up for new years eve!

Like Meghan Trainor and her penchant for bass and booty, at Christmas and New Year I am all about that glitter. I've recently been trying to mix up my makeup and try and get away from the eyeliner-flicks that have become my uniform, and what better time than December and January, when the festivities make it acceptable to wear glitter all day, every day. Plus, introducing flashes of glitter into your everyday makeup can help January not seem so long, dark and cold.
Read on for my favourite picks of nails, eyes, lips and some face staples to suit you for any situation at New Year..

E Y E S

My favourite thing is a glittery eye - whether thats mixed into a smokey eyeshadow, smudged along the waterline, or a wash of glitter along the lid with a sweep of liner. I particularly love creamy bases, my go-to's are the Illamasqua liquid metals - I have them in Superior (the blue), Surge (the gunmetal silver), and Solstice (the gold). They're great swept all over the lid or used as a base. I'm also a giant fan of the Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Mirifique (black) and Epatant (silver). These look like an eyeliner or a cream base in the pot, but dry to a powdery consistency on the eye, which I'm a big fan off, as they are quick and easy to smudge into a smoky eye. I particularly love to use the silver Epatant with Urban Decay Zodiac - an amazing glittery green eyeshadow - all over the lid, with MAC Carbon (what should be a staple in everyones makeup bag, a true matte black) smudged along the lash line.

I also recently picked up this wonderful, matte grey Bobbi Brown Shadow Stick in Shadow which I've been using with my own little quad. It consists of MAC Copperplate (a cool-toned matte grey), Beauty Marked (an amazing glittery purple-black), Smoke and Diamonds (a beautifully soft, rich and pigmented shimmery grey) and a Grand Entrance (soft, shimmery champagne silver-pink): altogether they create a really beautiful smokey eye, particularly when paired with my new favourite eyeliner, the Bourjois Liner Clubbing and lashings of my favourite waterproof mascara, 17's Va Va Voom in Black.

N A I L S

Nails are one of those things you can definitely go all out with, I always think. If you're not that comfortable chucking glitter all over your eyelids, or worry over a red-lip, stick to eyeliner and paint giant chunky gold holographic glitter all over your fingertips. That particular culprit in question is OPI When Monkey's Fly, it's got amazing bits of gold foil and holographic glitter in, and looks great when layered over any dark polish. I'm really into dark greens at the moment, like Barry M Racing Green, and Essie's Styleonomics will forever be a favourite, with it's dark and gothy green-black. I received the green and white glitter Urban Outfitters polish in Snow Globe from a friend for Christmas and it looks particularly awesome over the Barry M green. You can never go wrong with a silver or gold at this time of year, but I find silvers suit my skin-tone better, so I'm more likely to reach for Leighton Denny Diamond Diva, with either an amazing H&M holographic glitter polish called Jo Is In The House layered over, or Essie's Hors D'ouevers (a sort of shimmery silver gold champagne colour) on top. And even though Christmas is done and dusted by December 31st, a dark or glittery red is a classic in my book, and my two favourites are China Glaze Ruby Pumps and the vampy dark red that is Essie's Wicked.

L I P S

This is where the glitter theme sort of falls apart, because please don't wear glittery lipstick, I beg of you. As you can tell, I'm not being that adventurous with my lipstick this year, and thats because I'm shunning all the dark vampy lipsticks in favour of nudes and pinks, and it's weird for me but I'm going with it. I'm adding my favourite reds in here though, just because.
On the red spectrum, my all time, absolute holy-grail of dark red lipstick is NARS Fire Down Below (bottom of picture). I actually hunted for years for this, and it's the best true dark red I've found, not a berry or pink hue in sight, but has enough brown and blue in to make your teeth whiter, and not make you look like you're from the 80's. Honourable mentions go to Illamasuqa's Encounter, a good all-rounder red, but if you want a more sheer lipstick, you could try something like the YSL Volupte Sheer Candy in #7, which can be layered to that darker red, but goes on sheer.

However, I'm big into the pinky-nudes (I blame a Kardashian sister, though I'm not sure which one) and these are all my current go-to lipsticks from MAC. From the top down (to the left of the gold YSL colour) is MAC Blankety, a new favourite and is a bit paler than my lips, which  I love. In the middle is an oldie but a goodie in Plink!, and at the bottom, my true my lips but better lipstick, MAC Hug Me. I've been using them with the GOSH lip-liner Nougat Crisp to make it last as long as possible. I've just realised that maybe this is was being an adult is like, and not doing an neon pink lip on a daily basis...

F A C E

When you've got a lot going on on your nails, lips, eyes, etc, I think it's always best to tone down the contouring for a day. That doesn't mean not making the most of what you've got though. I love Yves Saint Laurent's Le Teint Touche Eclat foundation - I wear it in BR10 because it's got a great, buildable coverage and still remains dewy and fresh faced, so you can use it accordingly where needed. When paired with it's sister translucent powder, YSL's Souffle D'Eclat, and then a little bit of NARS Albatross highlighter swept over cheekbones, it gives the dewy illusion with good staying power. I've also been really enjoying eyeshadow of late - a change from my usual eyeliner - so a good shadow primer is needed, and I've been enjoying the Rimmel Exaggerate. It's not god's gift to beauty, and there are much better shadow primers out there, but for it's price-point (£4.99) and if you're in a pinch and need it, it's pretty good. Also make sure to prep your lips before even going NEAR that red lipstick - I was given this amazing blueberry EOS lip-balm by a friend and I've been carrying it with me ever since. The egg shape still feels a little weird to rub on your mouth, but I'm getting used to it!

What will you be opting for on New Year's Eve? I mean, despite liver-damaging amounts of alcohol..!

better than skin - mac hug me review

MAC Lipstick in Hug Me, £13.50

Just a speedy post from me today, I thought I would show you all the lipstick I'm currently reaching for nearly all the time. I have always said that I never saw the point of "my lips but better" shades.. and here I am, writing a post about one! Oh well. I kept reaching for this during a week of overtime, when I wanted to wear a little bit of lipstick but not something so loud and overwhelming that I wouldn't be allowed at work. This is one of the first MAC lipsticks I ever bought, I bought it because it was so 'nude', and I thought I could get away with it for school! It's just a little nub now, and I have to wind it up all the way to use it and I know it won't be long before it's gone! Anyway, it's a very glossy lipstick, because it's a Lustre, but I like that, because the fleshy kind of colour could look quite tacky and drying if it wasn't that glossy. It looks a weird colour in the tube - sort of a dirty greyed flesh tone, but it changes when it's on the lips.

Price: 5/5 (bought when MAC lipsticks were a tad cheaper)
Packaging: 5/5
Colour: 4/5
Texture: 5/5
Would I buy this product again?: I'm leaning that way..!

What lipstick are you currently loving? 

simply red: my red lipstick collection..

"If you know me, you know I'll like… (fill the blank)." I start a lot of my posts like this. I am a Lipstick Person. I know a lot of people are not Lipstick People. I am also a Red Lipstick Person. 

Therefore, over the years, I have amassed a large collection of red lipsticks, and I thought I would take it upon myself to show you a variety of swatted colours. For reference, I'm a pale-skinned girl, around the NW20 shade in MAC Foundations, with dark hair and eyes, so red lipsticks are one of those things that suit me like a glove, luckily! If you've never tried a red before, I recommend starting with something light, or sheer, like Revlon's sheer lip butters (see my review below!), then working up to these..or, ignore that, and jump right in..!

(If some of the applications are a little sloppy, please excuse me, I was wiping them right off afterwards.) 

MAC Russian Red

This is the red-lipstick I would recommend to everyone who wants a good, solid, matte red. It's a blue-toned red, which is good for making the teeth look good, and it has a very nice, 50's kind of red feel. I think this is the best of MAC's 'staple-reds', far outshining Ruby Woo, MAC Red, or any of the other ones they do (that I have currently forgotten!). It is what I describe as 'high maintenance'. You need to keep an eye on the application throughout the day, it's also quite drying, but on the plus side - it is long lasting as hell! 

MAC Lady Bug

Lady Bug is my every day red, and its perfect for it. It has the colour of Russian Red and the quality of a MAC lipstick without being as drying. It's like Russian Red's glossy sister. You can layer it up so it's darker, or you can wear it a bit more sheer, like in this picture. 

Rimmel Alarm

Rimmel's selection is as good as MAC's, and at a much cheaper price. I've had this one for years, I think it was the first red I'd purchased. I still think it's as good as you can get for a super affordable price! It's got a really nice, cherry-ish scent, too. If you want a cheap, well pigmented, smooth lipstick, go for this one! I'm not sure if you can get 'Alarm' (I've had it for ages), but you can get the same colour with a different name.

Sleek Pin-Up (Pout Paint)

I'm including this in the lipsticks, because it's such a staple-red, but it lacks a lot in application. It's got the staying power of a lipstick, but unless you're super slick with the application, it bleeds like hell, like you can see in this picture. 

Christian Dior Rouge Bella Vita

This is a recent addition to my lipstick collection (you can read a full review here) and I am head-over-heels in love with it. It's a beautiful orange-toned red with the perfect combination of staying power, colour, moisturising qualities and sheen.. I cannot recommend enough!

MAC Crazee

Crazee is a funny kind of red. It's a lustre or something, and it has this shine. I do sometimes enjoy this red, it's super shiny. Sometimes I feel like this, but I often don't. It was limited edition lipstick, but you can find frosty-reds in hundreds of brands' collections, if you really want them! Generally, I really don't get frosty-lipsticks. They're just not my kind of thing. Maybe if I had a perma-tan.. haha

MAC Rapturous 

Another limited edition, I'm afraid, but these kind of colours are ten-a-penny.. and not my thing at all. In my hunt for the perfect deep-red lipstick, I found hundreds of berry-reds.. which are really just not want I wanted at all. It's a nice lipstick, another high maintenance colour, and it does bleed quite badly, but if you like a purple-ish red, this is the colour for you!

NARS Fire Down Below

In my opinion, I saved the best until last. This is probably my All Time Favourite Lipstick. Dun-dun-dunnnn... Yes, I have picked one! Haha. It's a lot darker than my camera would pick up. I swatched many a lipstick to find this beauty. It's both everything I love and everything I hate. It's drying and high maintenance and it can bleed if you're not careful.. but I put up with all of this for the colour. It's a dark, blue-toned red, which is apparently incredibly hard to find! I found a million brown-reds and purple-reds and everything in between until I found this beauty. My tips? A really good, heavy duty lip-balm underneath. Carmex or Burt's Bees are my choices, and then a good lipliner all over helps. 

That was a long post! My apologies, I can wax lyrical about lipstick, and apparently I have done! What are your favourite reds, and do you think I've missed anything major from my collection? 

revlon lip butter review

Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter in Candy Apple, £7.99 rrp

I know everyone and their mother has posted about these lipsticks (lip balm?) recently, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents. They are.. nice. Maybe that's harsh. They alright! They're a nice, tinted sheer lipstick - I wouldn't actually call them balms, because they don't really moisturise, I feel. 

What I think they are good for, and when I generally reach for mine, is when my lips are feeling a little bit dry, I'm not wearing much makeup and I need a bit of pick-me-up. This is a good colour if you want a little bit of colour, or you're not used to wearing bright lipsticks, or can't be bothered with the high-maintence of a fully pigmented lipstick. They are very sheen-y though, and I do generally prefer a matte, but that is just my personal preference. 

I really love the style of the packaging, particularly the little seethrough top and the colour tube. I know there are people that only like the tapered-style traditional lipstick and don't like this kind of flat-end, but I don't really have a problem with that! 

The price is a bit steep, though. I got mine in a 3 for 2 thing at Boots a while back, but they're currently on sale at £5.99 at Boots (see link above) and I still think that is a bit pricey. I know Revlon market themselves as a higher-priced drugstore brand, but I think if they'd aimed them around the £4.99 mark, I'd be a lot more receptive to it!

Price: 2/5
Packaging: 4/5
Colour: 4/5
Texture: 2/5
Would I buy this product again?: No, none of the other colours appealed, I'm more of a solid/bright lipstick person. 

Have you tried these? I think they're generally not that well received in the blogging world, which is a bit sad! 

dior, dolce vita red - review

For my 5-year-anniversary at my work, I got given £20 worth of gift vouchers.. and I decided that a new lipstick was exactly what I needed! I've been looking for a sort of orange-toned red for a while, and I thought I'd have a wander around Reading looking for one. I thought the answer would lie at MAC, Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent, but it actually was hidden at Christian Dior! I've only ever bought foundation from Christian Dior, when this lovely caught my eye. However, I didn't know the packaging would be quite so.. odd;

I don't even know what this looks like, haha. The top round thing and the blue lifts off and it's just a circular base with the lipstick inside. It's really strange, haha. It's also very shiny and gold, which is nice. My mum thought that it looked like something that Cleopatra might have had, haha. 

Like I said, I had the gift vouchers but they usually cost around the £25 mark, depending on where you buy them. 

Anyway, the colour and formula are really lovely! It's a creamy matte-ish colour that doesn't dry out much, like MAC's mattes. It's also got a pretty good sticking power, only fading a little bit in the middle of my lips, so I generally rate it pretty highly.

Rouge Diorific in Dolce Vita Red 14 

I'm pretty pleased with my choice in all, here's a quick snap of me wearing it, but I'm pretty sleepy and I'd been up early and shopping all day, so excuse my tired face! 

Price: 5/5 (gift vouchers!)

Packaging: 2/5

Colour: 5/5

Texture: 5/5

Would I buy this product again?: I think I will definitely explore other Dior lipsticks form now on, yes!

What do you think of this colour? Have you bought any Dior lip products? Let me know! I hope you're all having a lovely Easter Sunday!

the only boy who could ever teach me

MAC Eyeshadow in Daisychain

MAC Eyeshadow in Copperplate

L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara

Rimmel Liquid Eyeline (forget the name!)

Chanel Perfection Lumiere

MAC Lipstick in Impassioned

This post is cheating a bit, if I'm honest. These pictures are sort of old - I posted some webcam shots here a few days ago, but I'm super busy this week, and wanted to have something to post this week! So here are a few proper shots of some makeup I did. I really love this lipstick, it's a perfect bright pink without being hot pink or baby pink - neither of which are are good on me! I'm continuing my love affair with Perfection Lumiere here, too.. 

gone in the morning

Today I was bored, so I decided to put on makeup and lipstick and just lounge around the house eating amazing biscuits that I got for 10p at work. I was going to do some drawing but I found myself looking at pictures of home libraries online. This is my life.
What are you doing today? Please tell me something interesting.

Illamasqua Lipstick in Corrupt: Review

I got this lipstick ages ago now, it was a Christmas present from my family! One of the things I love more than anything is bright lipsticks. I have a selection in my stash from pink, orange, red, purple, and most things in-between. I really adore bright, shocking colours, and this lives up to that reputation.

Illamasqua Lipstick, Corrupt, £15.50 

There's another picture of me wearing it here, just after Christmas (looking at that post makes me miss all my big comfy Winter jumpers!) I got it from the Illamasqua store just off Carnaby Street in London and the girls there was so lovely. Sat with me whilst I uhmed and aahed over various shades before I decided on this one! She also showed me how to blend it with a blue eyeliner to get a really interesting shade of purple, which I've attempted! Here's a closeup;

 

It's a really lovely lipstick, and has a beautiful matte finish. The only problem with that is it's quite a drying lipstick, so you need to make sure you have super moisturised, free from cracks or flakes, and I recommend not wearing it for that long a time, because when it starts drying out, you can tell. But then, that is an issue with all brightly coloured lipsticks, and |'m used to it, so it doesn't bother me that much anymore. The only real issue I have with it is that their lipsticks are a funny shape, which isn't really that useful when you're trying to apply them. 

   

They cost £15.50, which | think is a little on the pricey side, but it's a beautiful colour that I'm willing to pay the extra for! I'd be more comfortable with a £10-12 tag, though. At least we're not talking Rouge Volupte here! The packaging is nice, I like a more square tube, actually, like Nars lipsticks. 

Price: 4/5 

Packaging: 5/5 

Colour: 5/5 

Texture: 3/5 

Would I buy this product again?: Definitely. I have my eye on that navy blue lipstick that they do..

And he shall be my T-Rex, and I shall name him..

So, my lovely little followers, this is what you call regular blogging! Quite intriguing, don't you think. Anyway, this is what I wore Christmas day (and boxing day, cheekyy). I got some lovely new bits and pieces for Christmas, so thought I might show you them.

I know I look a little bit silly, but I really like this photo! I thought I looked quite good for a change, haha. Anyway, HOW great is my lipstick? This isn't really an accurate description of the colour, so if you want a proper post on it, let me know! It's Corrupt by Illamasqua, and it's super bright pink. Not like fuschia-pink, more a paler hot pink. It's hard to describe but it's excellent!

Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge

I know my eyeshadow is a little bit smudgy but I'd worn this all day, whilst shopping during the sales! Haha. Here I am wearing my shiny shiny new Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge, which was also a lovely Christmas present from my Grandma. I wore it with an eyeshadow over the top and with a base but it did unfortunately crease. It's very liquidy, so I might have to leave the top off for a bit to let it dry out, haha.

Pure Cotton Cable Knit Jumper

This may be my new favourite jumper in existence. I picked it out, from Marks and Spencers, from the mens section, and I got it for Christmas. It's this beautiful, amazingly cozy beige cable jumper. They're not even that expensive. I know the pictures on the M&S website look very cheesy, but I like that I can pull this down long enough to wear it just over leggings, or stick a £3 H&M skirt on underneath... Lovely lovely stuff. And very useful for cold days at uni!

Also, I genuinely cannot recommend men's jumpers enough! A much much nicer fit than womens ones, which are always cropped and fitted and shit. Horrid! Haha.

(ALSO, doesn't my wall on the left of me look pretty awesome? I redid it with new photos and such not long ago!)

Galibardy T-Rex Necklace

And finally, my most excellent present of all, which I adore. My Galibardy Dinosaur necklace. It is amazing, and I've wanted it ever since I laid eye on it. I'm going to do a whole post about Galibardy but let me just say.. they have some AMAZING pieces. Everyone has commented on it, and it's just excellent. One of those quirky jewellery piecs that I just love. He definitely needs a name now. I'm thinking something like Trevor. Who knows, I will take any suggestions!

Not gonna lie, thought I look quite stylish that day. Haha, if only you could see me now, in my stretched out primark jumper and pj pants, with my hair all greasy and eating chocolate orange in bed at 5AM cause my sleeping pattern is fucked! hahah.

Anyway, I hope you don't think this is bragging or showing off or anything, just thought I'd show you where to find some wonderful things that I love already. (:

What did you guys get for Christmas?!

Clare Marie
xxx

(Under the jump is a list, of everything I used on my face, just in case you fancy such things!)

What's red, black and.. black?

Me, apparently, with my mini-haul that I got the other day. I wanted to check out the new MAC collections (Fabulous Felines), and my friend needed some hair dye, so off we went to town! And this is what I got!

China Glaze Nail Polish in Agent Orange

MAC Superslick Liquid Eyeliner in On The Hunt (Black)

MAC Lipstick in Lady Bug (Lustre)

I bought these separately, sort of. I had a free Back to MAC lying about, and wanting a new kind of red lipstick, as my Russian Red was running low, and wanted a slightly more glossy red, a lighter more "day" red lipstick.

This nail varnish is gorgeous, but super awkward to photograph. It's called Agent Orange, but I wouldn't really call it orange, even though it looks it in this picture! It's a reddish-orange, with pink undertones, in some light. I genuinely don't have anything like it, and think it's a really unique colour! It's super pretty, and I've worn it every day since, I love it so much! It looks boring in the bottle, and I thought I might regret it (I'm trying to buy more "traditional" colours!) but I definitely don't, which is good news. (:

And then I got them home and tried them both on, and realised just how perfect they look together! They're very pretty, I'm also wearing the new eyeliner - it has a weird wet-look effect, which I like on its own, but not when paired with eyeshadow, I found out today, haha.

And if you're wondering what awesome new scarf that is..

That would be this bad boy, £6.99 from H&M and I absolutely adore it! H&M scarves always sucker me in, and I buy a few every Autumn/Winter, cause I love them so much. There's another two I want to go back and get.. You can't really tell in the picture but the orangey bits are a super bright orange, and they're lovely and I love it and there is lots of love.

Thought this was a cute little post to do! Anyway, today I'm off to the gym and to see my friend for lunch!

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Review

Now whenever I saw these, I wanted them all. Recently I was watching a video by lollipop26 who raves about them, and I couldn't help but go check them out when I was in town.

#13, Peach Passion
First off.. they look incredibly pretty. I'm immediately drawn in by the glossy gold packing, the stylish logo around the middle, and the little mirror on the end.. It's generally just a very pretty product. I'm a sucker for pretty packaging, and this definitely hits the mark. They feel expensive, too. It's a heavy product, physically, compared to other lipsticks, such as MAC, which makes it feel classy and more like a product to take care of, rather than throwing it in the bottom of my bag with all the dust and icky things that live in there.
It is an expensive product, also. One of these will set you back a full £21. I will pay a lot for lipsticks, but I think over £20 is starting to push it! But.. they are so very very pretty, haha. I work for a place where I can get a discount on it, so in the end it only cost me just under £16. Which mentally I, of course, round down to £15 and that doesn't seem so bad to me..
The colour is gorgeous. I don't really have anything like it. I have things that give a similar colour with sheer coverage, but this is something else. It looks very creamy in the tube, and I assumed this wouldn't be very pigmented. I was wrong. You put it on and it comes out highly pigmented, and super glossy. It slides on almost like lipgloss. I love the texture, however, I don't know if I'll be wearing it an awful lot in this thirty degree heat.. but still. The colour is very similar to that on the tube, a pinky-peachy coral, leaning possibly towards the 'salmon' end of the spectrum, but sort of milky. A bit like peaches and cream. Which I suppose is about right for the name.

Here's a side by side comparison of my lips bare, and then with Peach Passion. Please ignore my little freckle on my lip, haha. This picture doesn't really show the difference that well, now that I'm looking at it. In person, it adds a really pretty, bright, creamy looking finish. I've heard people complain about these being super-drying when on the lips, but I haven't really found that? I do tend to use a lip scrub most days, but I think if you already have dry lips in the slightest, it will cling in all the lines on your lips... which pretty much means bad times.

I could go on but I'll stop! Here's a little breakdown for you;

Price: 3/5

Packaging: 5/5

Colour: 4/5

Texture: 5/5

Would I buy this product again?

Probably! As long as I have my trusty John Lewis discount card by my side, I'm sure I'll be looking into some other colours in the future, because there is a deep purple (Forbidden Burgundy) with my name written all over it...