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Top 5 Red Lipsticks

I love a red lip and I thought this was an appropriate time of the year to talk about my top 5, with Valentine’s Day only around the corner. I am not a romantic soul, but any excuse to wear a red lipstick and I am all over it, so keep reading to see what are my favourite red lipsticks are from my stash 🙂

Lime Crime Velvetine

First up is Lime Crime’s Velvetine. This is a bizarrely wonderful product. It is so opaque and creamy in texture. The colour is nearly over whelming when you first use it as it has so much colour pay off in lipgloss form, but once you get used to it it’s a fab product. It is a beautiful rich red with the blue undertone we want so our teeth look whiter:

Lime Crime Velvetine

The finish of it is in the name it definitely. It has a matte velvet look once it dries and once it dries it is not budging. It is on your lips to stay, so you can kiss all you want (bleh) :). I’ll admit, I bought this because of the hype around it and have to say I’m glad I did, it is a welcome product to my ever expanding make up collection.

My next red love is Mac’s Ririwoo.

Mac Ririwoo

This is basically Rubywoo in rose gold packaging for an extra 4 euro, but I just couldn’t resist, I am drawn to shiny things. Ririoo has a “retro matte” finish according to Mac. I construe this as being a matte lipstick but not so matte your lips crack from the dryness so it is easy to wear as it doesn’t have a complete matte finsh:

Mac RiriWoo

This is a very similar red to the Velvetine, rich and pigmented with a blue undertone that I think would be suitable for all skin tones. With this lipstick however, you have the choice of how deep you want the colour in accordance to how much you add, if you use a lip liner underneath and if you if you diffuse it with your finger or a brush for a lighter  day appropriate application. Mac really do make fab lipsticks and this is probably one of their most popular ones and with owning it I can see why.

Third up on my list is a red for the people who aren’t really a fan of the traditional bright red. This is Nars’ Joyous Red.

Nars

This is a hybrid of colours, which I know does not look very appealing in the tube, although it does have the lovely smooth black packaging to compensate :). This is an unusual lipstick, it is semi-matte with a satin/glossy finish. The colour reminds me of Autumn, it borders on brown and red which I think is a great option for a day time lip. Again can be worn full on:

Nars Joyous Red

Or muted down with a just s few dabs added and using your finger to work the colour into the lips. I think this is a lipstick that looks fab on pale skin and older ladies who still want to rock a bold lip with out going full on Marilyn with it. I wear this lippie quite alot to brighten up my makeup without having to put too much effort in and the formulation is beautiful, it fades away really nicely so is great for wearing to work. Not a traditional choice I know, but I thought not everyone likes bold red so why not mix it up a bit.

Next on the list is my very loved Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple. I was obsessed with these when they first came out and have quite a few.

Revlon Lip Butter

I love the packaging as much as I love the product inside (I am a sucker I know). These are like a lip gloss, lipstick and lip balm in one:

Revlon Lip Butter Candy Apple

They are so nourishing and easy to apply but are quite pigmented and long lasting to boot. Candy Apple is a lovely,youthful, vibrant glossy red that is not too over the top. I think this would be great for anyone really, particularly anyone who is scared of red lipstick but really wants to experiment. The lip butters in general and their colour range are a great place to start incorporating colour into your makeup routine as they are easy to maintain on the go, can be worn sheer or full on and are very mistake forgiving. I would recommend them to anyone.

Last on my voyage of reds is a bit of a special one, but I could not talk about my collection without adding this one in for good measure 🙂

Tom Ford

This was actually a Christmas pressie from the boyfriend along with the gorgeous eyeshadow quad mentioned here This is Tom Ford’s lip colour in “Cherry Lush”. The name say it all, this is a opaque, not too glossy cherry red colour but again with a slight blue undertone, that will lasts a long time and fades beautifully throughout the day (or night):

Tom Ford Cherry Lush

The packaging is so luxurious too. Black, gold and sleek that feels heavy in your hand. Can that justify paying 46Euro for a lipstick? Absolutely not. But will I do it again? Probably! I adore this lipstick, I love the colour, I think anyone could wear it and I think for a treat or present (hint hint Valentine’s Day present), this is a fab lipstick that really is pretty amazing. Well done Tom!

To maintain your lovely red pout, make sure to always give your lips a good ex foliate and add a slick of lip balm while doing the rest of your makeup. Line the lips with a similar colour of lipliner, this gets your lip line just right and you can even it out if it’s a bit wonky like mine, although I didn’t use one for the pics as I did not want to compromise the colours. Also do the blot, repeat step. Use a lip brush to fill in your lips with the lipstick, use one layer of a tissue, put it up yo your mouth and with a brush and some translucent powder blot lightly over the lips with the tissue on top, taking up the excess product. Then, apply another layer of lipstick out of the bullet and you’ll be good to go.

So there you have it, some red goodies to get you in the festive mood for this coming February the 14th whether you are celebrating with your other half, your friends or family, why not rock a red lip and get into the spirit of things. It is a Friday after all, I think Friday is worth celebrating even if Valentine’s Day isn’t 😛

Thanks for reading

Gemma

xxx

moisturizer-for-oily-skin

So if you have read my previous post on my favourite foundations of the moment, you will know I have oily skin. I am in my late 20’s and get spots like a teenager, apparently it means I will have less wrinkles in the future? I don’t know if it’s worth it though. Through the years I have picked up some little tips that help keep the oiliness at bay throughout the day and wanted to share them with you. They may be obvious to lots of people, but it is always good to spread the knowledge just in case 🙂

I’ll start with skincare. I always use a rich night cream going to bed. I know oily skinned people would be advised not to do this but I think we need moisture too so the night time is a good place to do it. If I am dealing with a really big break out I use Sudocrem as my nightcream,it helps dry them suckers right up! But for during the day, I always use an oil free moisturiser:

La Roche Posay Mpisturiser

I love this Sebo Regulating Effaclar Mat Moisturiser from La Roche Posay. It has a gel like formula that if you weren’t horribly oily, you could use it as a make up base day to day. It is meant to help with large pores too. I cannot really confirm this, I haven’t noticed any difference. You can pick this up in most pharmacies and Boots stores for around 15 euro.

If I am going out for the whole day and night and know I won’t have much time to pay attention to my makeup, I use Milk of Magnesia on my face instead of a moisturiser.  I am sure some of you are thinking what the hell? This is for an upset tummy you can’t put it on your face? Well I am here to tell you it works! Milk of MagnesiaI apply a really light layer with a cotton pad primarily to the middle of my face and just dab my cheeks with whatever else is left on the pad. This stuff is white so be really careful with it, and always shake the bottle before use. I do not know the science behind it but it works, simple as that, it can also help with drying spots up too, bonus! You can buy Milk of Magnesia everywhere and it is cheap as chips, I recommend that every oil faced girl always have this in their makeup drawer, it’s brilliant!

So next is primer:

makeup primer

I am a primer fanatic, for my skin and my eyeshadow. I have tried a fair few silicone based primers and then more “balmy” ones. I do not mind the silicone ones, I quite like the Inglot one pictured here priced a 22 Euro, it is smoothing and does an ok job with prolonging the oiliness. My favourite of my stash has to be the Benefit Porefessional. It has a ridiculous price tag of 34 euro (Benefit are renowned for their silly prices), but I really do like it. This would be classed as a more balmy primer and it is nearly skin coloured but rubs in to the skin and vanishes, it is diffusing too so helps with minimising the look of larger pores . Under make-up it is fab,  but you can also use it over it to help smooth out anything that needs to be smoothed out.

When it comes to eye primer, I tend to stick to the Urban Decay Primer Potion (20 euro in Debenhams). I have bought a ridiculous amount of Urban Decay eye shadow palettes over the years so I have lots of little bottles of primer potion knocking about as you usually get a small sample with a palette, so I have yet to run out. This would be of a similar consistency to the Porefessional with the same colour tone but disappears once rubbed in. You need a teeny amount of eye primer, the rule of thumb is the less you use the better it works so use just enough to cover the lid with a thin layer. It really helps prolong your eye-shadow, so if you tend to get a crease line  on your eyelid throughout the day, give a primer a go and you will see the difference!

So you have primed your face, added you gorgeous make-up,  and want to make it last longer? You need a powder to set it:

powders

I have a whole host of them knocking about my make-up drawer. For normal going to work use I tend to stick to the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressesd Powder (5.99 Euro in Boots). This is a light powder with no coverage so does not cake over your make-up and does the job of mattifying the face well, and it’s cheap what more can you ask for! For going out I use the Mac Studio Fix (31.50 in Brown Thomas). This is definitely much more expensive, but it is a powder foundation so gives much more coverage and is not too weighty on the skin if you use a light layer. It contains silica and talc which help absorb excess oil so less touching up throughout the night is needed  which is why I do all of these steps in the first place :). There is so many types of powder to choose from though these are just the two I tend to go back to again and again.

So powder is on, could there be another step? Maybe just one more for good measure. I am a huge fan of finishing sprays:

Finishing Spray

They help prolong your make-up, they have active ingredients that help your skin and they get rid of the powdery look that tends to happen when you are trying to get rid of the oiliness 🙂 My favourite is the Urban Decay de-slick Make-up Spray (28 Euro in Debenhams).  Urban Decay claim that this lowers the temperature of your make-up to help it stay put. My make-up definitely stays put and the spray is really fine so it doesn’t disturb the work you have already done, and it is another step to help control the oil for a decent period of time. I like using this to wake up my make-up during the day too when it is looking a bit tired. Spray a light layer of this and it looks a bit more alive and refreshed.

I have a couple of other random things that I sometimes throw in as well ( because I haven’t got enough already right?).

Blotting PaperBlotting paper

Blotting paper! These are great for touching up through the day ( I bought these Catrice ones in my local chemist for 3.49 Euro). I recommend getting ones without any type of coating on them as some of them are covered in talc which adds white splotches to your face. You just dab your face with the piece of paper and it soaks up any excess oil you might have without moving your beautifully applied make-up.

Finally is a really random one for you:

Lah Potion

The Anastasia Lash Genius (14 pound on Cult Beauty) is a clear gel that you put on after your mascara to seal it in and stop panda eyes. Now I know waterproof mascara is meant to do this, but for me personally it doesn’t always cut the mustard, so this is just an extra insurance policy for me to help keep my mascara in place all day. I feel like it really  helps and blackness under my eyes at the end of the day is now a thing of the past!

So these are a random group of things that I use (not always together) to help prolong my make-up, prevent creasing, smudging and general oily skin shenanigans. If you have reached the end of this blog post I commend and thank you 🙂

Gemma

xxx

IMG_4162

I am coming at you today with a few of my favourite liquid foundations of the moment. I tend to have a lot on the go at any one time testing them out and seeing how they fair. I have not got the best skin. It is overall very oily with some random dry patches and I tend to get breakouts quite alot, so for me foundation is pretty important and I use it everyday to even out my skin which has pink undertones . I would be an NC20 in MAC.

The first of the foundations I want to talk about is the purse friendly Revlon Colorstay which you can pick up in nearly all Boots  and on their website for close to 18 euro.

Revlon Colorstay Foundation Oily/Combination Skin

Revlon Colorstay Foundation Oily/Combination Skin

Sigma Flat Top Kabuki Brush

Sigma Flat Top Kabuki Brush

This foundation comes in two formulas oily/combination and dry. Of course I use the oily/combination version. It’s thick in consistency so you don’t need a whole lot and it dries to a matt finish. It’s medium to full coverage depending on how much you build it, so if you want a light layering maybe for work or just for daytime, I suggest adding a little moisturiser to it to loosen it a bit. I don’t feel doing this adds any more oil (to my skin anyway). My favourite way to apply this foundation is with a flat dense kabuki brush or with my fingers, for a lighter layer. Working it into the skin with a dense brush tends to make the product work better for you and cover any large pores so less concealer is needed. I really like the Revlon Colorstay and feel it wears pretty well on me throughout the day and is good for nights out as it only has an SPF of 6 so doesn’t have much or any flashback in photos 😉 I think it will always be in my arsenal of foundations.

The next foundation I want to chat about it a pretty new one to my collection and it is the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint. I picket this up on Cult Beauty for 30 pound so it would definitely be classed as a “higher end foundation”.

Jouer Moisture Tint

Jouer Moisture Tint

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

As the name implies this is a mattifying foundation but has all the benefits of a moisturising foundation. I would class this as a heavy duty tinted moisturiser with light but build-able coverage. It is oil free and fragrance free so good for any of you sensitive oily ladies out there! The texture of this foundation is like nothing I have ever used before, it is nearly like a gel which makes it very easy to blend. I tend to use my fingers if I am in hurry with this or a Real Techniques Buffing Brush as its not very dense and distributes the product nicely. I really like The Jouer Matte Moisture Tint, it wears well, however it is not great over blemishes, it can cake around them so you have to be careful of that when blending it. This had an SPF 15, so it is suited better for day wear. I wear the shade Linen.

Next on my list is the MakeUpForever Mat Velvet +. You can buy this from the MakeUpForever shop in Clarendon street in Dublin which I am lucky to live quite close to or on their website for 35 euro (again another high end foundation).

MakeupForever Mat Velvet +

MakeupForever Mat Velvet +

Sigma Round Top Kabuki Brush

Sigma Round Top Kabuki Brush

The bottle in the picture above is empty, so I guess that’s a sign I like this foundation :). This is my” I’m late for work” product. Squeezable bottle, medium coverage and lovely to blend, so doesn’t need much attention.  It is oil free and water resistant so lasts pretty well on the skin throughout the day with a light layer of powder on top. It doesn’t tend to oxidise on my skin which is brilliant. It does not have an SPF so if you want to protect yourself layer it up underneath. I apply this with fingers in a hurry or a dense kabuki foundation brush. I find the brush really helps gets the product into the skin. I may have to repurchase this, I’ve talked myself into it 🙂 I wear the shade 30.

My final choice of the minute (although I could ramble on for hours) is the Estée Lauder Double Wear Light. You can buy this in Debenhams or any other place that has an Estée Lauder counter. It retails for 36.50 Euro. Another pricey one I know sorry, I must be going through a phase Surprised.

Esteé Lauder Double Wear Foundation

Esteé Lauder Double Wear Foundation

Real Techniques Expert face Brush

Real Techniques Expert face Brush

This is my heading out on the town foundation. I also own the original Double Wear in the glass bottle which I love  but it is much harder to work and I am lazy so the light one is better for me. Don’t be fooled the word “light” in my opinion does not mean a lighter coverage foundation, this is a full coverage foundation and is hardcore stuff so needs to be used carefully. I apply it in light layers, letting each one dry as I go with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. It is a wet foundation and applies shiny to the skin, but sets quick and stays really well throughout the night. Honestly, only if I am in a really hot place or out til’ all hours of the morning do I really feel the need to touch up. This foundation covers like a dream, and is great in pictures even with an SPF of 10. I wear the shade 2.0 Intensity. This is not my colour match its probably about 2 shades darker, as I would have false tan on wearing it.

These are just a few of the liquid foundations I am using at the moment. I tend to vary my foundations depending on where I am going, if I am wearing tan and how much coverage I want that day. I will never be the girl who just has one foundation and sticks to it. However I think Revlon Colorstay and  Estée Lauder Double Wear Light will be in my collection for a long time to come, as well as Mac Face and Body which I always keep a hold of for the summer time as it can be used on the face and any other body parts that might need an extra bit of coverage.

As I have oily skin I always prep my skin with primer and set with powder, my next blog post will go into more detail about this so keep an eye out for that 🙂

Let me know if you have any foundation suggestions for oily skin, I am always on the look out and have a shopping problem so would love to know.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Gemma xxx