Coventry SS19 Fashion & Beauty Press Day

Almost a month ago I got the chance to go to the SS19 Fashion & Beauty Press Day in Coventry and it was so much fun! I’d booked the day of work especially for the event, which in turn was also the day I found out I’d been offered my new job! Definitely a day for celebrating!

The event was organised by Coventry Bid, who partnered up with Emily who runs Coventry Bloggers (and also her blog The Emily Chapters).

Me and Amy (Writing into the Ether) decided to meet up before the event to go for something to eat and then head to the event together. It was a lovely early afternoon eating Japanese food together and talking about all sorts, from her weekend down in Brighton, to working together on blog posts.

We ventured over to the event and it was much bigger than I thought it was going to be! I’ve only attended one fashion style event before, which in turn was the first blog event I ever went to and by far one of the worst! We won’t go into that though now… 😛

The event was held in The Old Grammar School, a gorgeous church like building that was the perfect location for this event and as you walked in the main section was filled with various high street fashion retailers, some recognisable and some not.

As well as fashion there was a small beauty section located in one of the rooms, which was great but to be honest too small for how many people were at the event. This being said it was amazing for networking! I saw some old and new faces and spoke to loads of bloggers, which was lovely.

We were given a drink upon arrival and after a little introduction to the evening and what it entailed, we were let free to venture around and look at all the clothes coming out for spring and summer 2019!

There were various people there including Milk Vintage Clothing, Marks & Spencer, Topshop, Yours Clothing, Debenhams and more.

I was really disappointed that I never got to have a look at Topshop and what they had on offer. They left early due to a launch/sale the next day. I did go over to the stand to look at what was on offer, but everyone was swarming the area so I couldn’t really get a chance to look, which was a shame.

I have to be honest and say my two favourite stands were Marks & Spencer and Yours Clothing. Now I’m not a plus size lady but I LOVED all the styles that Yours Clothing had on offer for plus size ladies. It’s great that they make fashionable pieces that are up to date with the catwalks but they don’t charge loads for pieces because “they have to use extra fabric”. This is an excuse that most stores out there use and it pisses me off. It’s just bogus and I don’t agree with it at all.

Marks & Spencer were amazing and they were by far my favourite. I actually used to work there for a couple of years and I was always so frustrated at the clothes range and how they’re aimed at older women. They’ve taken a lot on inspiration from massive brands, the one that stands out the most being Chanel. They had some gorgeous pieces that really stood out alongside the other stands in my opinion.

They had a mannequin that was dressed perfect for the office, or an evening out with friends or a partner.They also had a gorgeous tea dress that would be lovely to wear during the later spring months when the weather is starting to get warmer, as well as summer when the weather is gorgeous and an evening in a beer garden is a must!

The piece I loved the most on their stand is their leather slingback shoes which shout Chanel! They had the nude pair on show and I would love to pick them up for work now. They’d look perfect with the tea dress I mentioned and a nice black or navy blazer.

Finally another stand that kept drawing me back to it time and time again was Milk Vintage Coventry. When I was in my early 20’s I was obsessed with vintage clothes and was always down at Cow Vintage in Digbeth. These days that isn’t so much the case, but I do rather like to flick through vintage finds as and when I get the chance to.

I loved the variety of vintage pieces they had on show, but I particularly loved a tartan skirt they had on show! I love wearing tartan trousers (in various colours… Not just the standard red!) which I thought this was when I first saw it. Everyone was commenting on this piece though and I think if these had been on sale at the event, it would have been snapped up straight away! A geeky black tee or a band shirt and some Vans trainers or Converse would look amazing with this in the summer!

Me and Amy ended up going our seperate ways on and off during the event but I walked around with Gemma (Just Gem) who is such a sweetie! I love her so much and she always makes me giggle when I’m in her company. 🙂

However before I lost Amy, we had a good nose around the beauty section and I watched Amy get her makeup down by the gorgeous girls at Benefit. She looks beautiful in the photos I took of her! 😀

I would have had my makeup done by Benefit, but as my readers know, I’m not a makeup wearer. They made all the girls look stunning (even though they did previously!) and gave them a bit of colour with their Cheekleaders Mini Bronze and Mini Pink palettes!

Me and Gemma ventured over to the Clarins section of the room, where they were talking about some of their new skincare, which we also got to take home samples of! I still need to give them a go, I’m really excited for them. 😛

Sadly I can’t remember names, but the woman at Clarins was so thorough about everything and the even tried both of the products on the back of mine and Gemma’s hands.

We got to try the Re-Boost day cream and the Re-Charge sleep mask. They both feel really refreshing and hydrating on the skin and as I said previously, I’ve got some samples to try but as of yet I haven’t give them a go. I will do very soon though and when I do if they feel lovely on the skin I might treat myself to one of them. 🙂

I wanted to get my nails painted as well but it was so busy I just left it in the end, but Amy and Emily (Coventry Life) got their nails done and they looked gorgeous! 😀 They both went for a raspberry pink colour.

We all sort of gathered together as we waited for Amy to get her nails painted and then ventured over to the last beauty stand, which was Dior. This area was incredibly busy and me and Gemma never got the chance to ask what they were talking about and showcasing at the event. However, later on the lady who was in charge of the stand noticed that she hadn’t yet spoken to us and said how she felt bad for missing us. Even though she had packed everything away at this point, she still went out of her way to go and get both me and Gemma a goodie bag with some little bits and pieces in! We both had a sample of their Joy perfume, as well as a mini sample of their Dior Addict Lip Maximizer. I’ve used this product a couple of times now and it’s lovely! It’s nothing to write home about, but it’s good and does me for work. 🙂

Before we all headed home after the event we had loads of selfies! I loved seeing Emily as I hadn’t seen her since before Christmas! She’s such a great person to talk to and always so honest in her blog writing, as well as just her in general. I also love that she collects pin badges like I do! 😛

Overall I had such a fun time at the event! I’m not the most fashionable in the world anymore and I don’t really do much in the world of beauty either, but most of all I loved seeing my blogger girls and just having a good natter with them all!

March was such a crazy month for me and I feel like this event (as well as the news I received earlier on in the day) was just the beginning of the crazy. 😛

Do you love fashion? If so which trends are you looking forward to this spring and summer?

Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you had a lovely weekend.

High-End Beauty Haul & A Foxy Surprise!

Recently my family went on holiday and came back before the weekend. The three weeks they were away for has really flown by, and I was glad to see them arrive home safely.

When they got back they were bearing gifts, as well as with a surprise gift for me. I had asked my mom to pick me up some goodies whilst she was there, which I would give her the money for.

We have a home over in Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, and due to it being a tax-free island it can sometimes work out cheaper to buy beauty related goodies over there, rather than here.

I only have four things she picked up for me, but they’re all amazing, and I couldn’t wait to show them off to you today!

• Lancome Juicy Shaker Lip Gloss in shade Mint To Be – £18.00

I already have one of these in shade Berry In Love (you can read my review here) and whilst I didn’t review it with all-stars and positives, I still rather like it for work if I fancy something light, which I can reapply without the worry I look like coco the clown. This is a rather odd shade considering it’s blue, but I love how it reminds me of my teenage years of wearing sheer blue lipsticks and lip glosses. This is just like the name too, it’s very minty and makes my lips feel tingly and feel fresh, which is nice! I can’t wait to rock this over the summer months on hots days out. For a while this was only an exclusive at Selfridges and Lancome’s official website, but it appears to be available everywhere now, although I think it is a limited edition shade.

• Chanel Poudre Universelle Compacte Natural Finish Pressed Powder in shade Peche – £33.00

I’m hitting pan on my current face powder, which means it’s time to think about buying something new! I mentioned to my mom that I wanted to get something new, and asked her if she could have a nose whilst on holiday for something fancy for me. She had a look around and found this lovely piece for me! A Chanel powder… Oh my! I wasn’t expecting this! I especially wasn’t expecting it to be a peach shade, I would have thought it would be white. This being said it’s only a subtle colour and doesn’t affect the colour of my own skin in any way. I cannot wait to start using this, it’s such a gorgeous piece to have in my make up collection now, especially with its beautiful velvet pouch that it lives in.

• Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in shade Plum Shimmer – £18.00

I own two of these already, Rose Shimmer, and Candy Shimmer, both of which I bought from Fuerteventura last time I went in November 2015. This is one of the newer shades in the lip perfector collection and it is right up my street! It’s a raspberry pink shade, and when applied multiple times it gives a nice dark payoff to it. I will rock this loads throughout the summer, as well as every other time of year! I hope to review them all together soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

• Chanel Rouge Coco Stylo Lipstick in shade Roman – £26.00

This is probably my favourite item that I bought from the bunch as not only is it a new and exciting product by Chanel, but it’s also such a lovely shade. I wish I could have really swatched a variety of the shades before picking the one I had, but from looking at swatches and pictures from Tempalia’s post over on her blog, I knew I would love Roman. It’s a hot pink shade, and very me! Makes a change from purple shades, that’s for sure. It’s not like your normal lipsticks either, this one has a buttery and moisturising formula which is really nice! The thing I love the most is the tube, which is long and sleek, which as the name states, looks stylish. I cannot wait to review this beauty!

Finally I have the special gift that my dad got for me! When we went on holiday together in November I eyed up this cushion and fell in love with it. It has a fox on it, how could I NOT fall in love with it?! I don’t know what I’m going to do with it yet… Probably stick it on my bed and use it as a back rest. 😛 It’s huge though, probably half the size of my body. It’ll definitely be nice to use as something to lean on whilst I work on blog posts. This only cost my dad €27.95, which works out to £21.25. Bargain really considering how big it is, I mean look at the picture of it with my hand on top… That is how big it is!

So that’s my little high-end beauty haul! I do not know the prices in euros at this time, but when I find out I will update this post as and when. I hope to review the majority of the goodies mentioned on here soon as well.

Are any of the products I’ve purchased anything you would like to get, or have bought yourselves recently? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have an awesome bank holiday Monday!

Holiday Haul!

Woohoo I’m officially back from my holiday (almost a week to be exact!), and boy was it good. The sun was out most days, and I’m now sporting a gorgeous natural tan. Don’t be too jealous! Whilst I was away I did a little bit of shopping. How could I not take advantage of a tax free island? Would have been rude not to… I didn’t buy as much as I actually thought I was going to, which left me feeling pleasantly surprised. Not only did I buy myself some odd bits and pieces, but I also bought some Christmas and birthday presents too.

The first things I picked up were actually from Birmingham airport. Duty free is always a must have to splurge on before you get on your plane, but this being said I didn’t exactly grab many offers… I won’t lie when I say that I wished I had waited until I had arrived at Fuerteventura to buy the first thing, but no point in crying over spilt milk, eh?

• Dior Blooming Bouquet 100ml EDT Gift Set

I’ve had my eye on this perfume for quite some time now after receiving a sample of it in the post back in the summer. It’s an eau de toilette so it’s a lovely light perfume, and perfect for summer due to it’s fruity, and floral notes. This set cost a purse crying £80.00, which came with a 100ml bottle of Blooming Bouquet, as well as a 7.5ml refill bottle. The refill bottle is stunning, definitely a posher version of a Travello bottle. So for the high price tag, it was sort of worth the money really. I wore this every evening we went out and I loved it. This will probably be my go to scent for my new job, as well as for spring and summer.

• Benefit The POREfessional Face Primer

I LOVE this stuff! It’s definitely a must have for me now since it recently returned into my beauty regime. I’m really low on my first tube so I decided to pick up another one whilst I was in duty free. I used this in the evenings whenever we went out, and due to how light weight it is on the skin, it meant it was perfect when it was still warm outside.Due to this, I would say this is a definite must have for holidays! The airport had a special offer where if you bought one it would cost £20.00, but if you bought the three/four gift set, it was only £53.00! I was really tempted by the special gift set (as you can only buy it at the airport… apparently), but considering how much I had just spent on the Dior perfume, I decided to leave it. Next time my parents fly out I’ll ask them to pick the set up for me and give them the money back. My boyfriend will be jetting out in January for a holiday, so I may even ask him to pick it up for me!

I have to say that one thing I hate about Fuerteventura is how they have a chain of lingerie shops called Women’s Secret, and we don’t! This being said, we can order online from there but meh it’s not the same thing as going in store and going through all the amazing pieces they have on offer. That and it’s cheaper in Euro’s. This being said we now have Victoria’s Secret, and that’s my favourite lingerie shop so I can’t be too sad about not getting Women’s Secret. I only picked up a couple of things whilst I was in Women’s Secret. I didn’t intend on bringing anything back, but alas I couldn’t help myself, and even then I was pretty good. The possibility of bringing back some pajamas really did tempt me, but I left it and just bought loads of knickers instead… 😛

• Hipster briefs (in black, white, and grey)

As you can see I bought quite a few of these knickers… This wasn’t even my intention to be honest! I originally bought a pack of black briefs to keep at my house in Fuerteventura, which I left behind but I loved them so much I just had to buy another pack to bring home with me. This resulted in my buying two more packs, a white pack, and a grey pack. I have no regrets because these knickers are just so bloody comfortable! If there is a pair of knickers sent from heaven, then they’re these. As you can probably see these are hipster briefs, comfortable, and perfect for hugging my curvy bum in all the right places. These weren’t on sale or anything, but cost €12.99 a pack, and you get three in a packet. I didn’t mind paying this price to be honest as I just love these so much, and doubt I’ll find any as good in the UK.

• Mickey and Minnie Mouse knickers

These were a bit of an impulse buy but they were on sale from €12.99 down to just €5.99. Who could say no to that? These are really cute, yet sexy, and comfortable. They’re grey with a picture of Mickey and Minnie Mouse having a kiss and a cuddle on the one side, super cute! I am such an unsexy person when it comes to lingerie, so I choose childish, and comfortable over sexy, and lace any day!

One of my favourite places to shop in Fuerteventura is Correlejo, it’s basically like a smaller version of London (WAY SMALLER) to the island, and thus the place to go shopping. It’s especially a great place for surfing, and the fashion there is the best with the surf, skate, and (surprisingly) snow shops. This is the main reason why I like going there, as there are over a handful of these shops dotted around Correlejo, and although I wanted to go twice to make sure I visited all the shops, I only managed to pop into a couple on one visit. My favourite shop is one that is near the top of the high street as they sell some complete bargains in there, and they’re all high brand names such as Vans, DC Shoes, Roxy, Billabong, etc. So I picked up a couple of t-shirts from there.

• Vans Disney The Little Mermaid Ariel Raglan T-Shirt

I’ve mentioned on my blog in the past how much I’ve loved the collaboration between Vans and Disney. I did really like the look of The Little Mermaid goodies they brought out in the first collection, but not enough to actually pay the prices Vans had things for sale at. When I spotted that this shop were selling one of the Ariel t-shirts with 30% off I decided to snap one up quick. They only had large sizes left and whilst I probably should have tried it on, I decided to get it anyway. There’s nothing wrong with a baggy t-shirt. I’ll be teaming this up with some baggy jeans, denim shorts, and anything really. It’ll be perfect for lazy days, and shopping trips. I picked it up €23.00, bargain! When I tried it on at home, it felt baggy enough that it wasn’t swamping me, which is perfect really. I intend to rock this Christmas Day.

• DC Shoes T-Shirt

Another t-shirt from the same shop. I saw this and knew I had to have it. I didn’t want to worry if I left it behind I would regret it. This is a navy t-shirt with the DC Shoes logo in red, and white. It actually reminds me of a t-shirt my boyfriend owns by DC Shoes which is one of the reasons I picked it up. I love that t-shirt of his, and when we first got together I would constantly ask to borrow it to wear, or tell him to wear it. So it’s nice to kind of have my own version. That’s just so soppy isn’t it? I picked this up in a medium which is the only size they had for this one, I’m sure it’ll fit fine! This was 50% off in then sale so I only paid €13.00 for it. When I finally got this home and tried it on, it fit lovely but has a very odd boxy looking fit on the top half of it. I’m sure this will go away the more I wear it.

I didn’t buy much make up whilst on holiday, which I am somewhat surprised about, but at the same time I didn’t want to buy much anyway. So this being said, I did really good! Although I have three things here, I only bought two of them as one was a gift, but I still wanted to mention it here. These are all things I have wanted for years, so it was lovely to finally treat myself to them.

• YSL Kiss & Blush Soft Matte Colour in shade 3 Rose Libre

One evening when I stayed in I watched the 2014 film about Yves Saint Laurent which I’d downloaded specifically to watch on the plane to or from my holiday. I’m glad I didn’t watch it on the plane now to be honest, as I enjoyed it more during an evening in, whilst chilling in bed. It kind of gave me the push to buy the lip colour which I had nearly bought when I came here in January. It’s a gorgeous creamy lipstick and blush, which reminds me of a creamier version of Collection 2000’s lip cream (in shade Cotton Candy). Rose Libre is a cool neutral rose shade, and one that can be worn all year around, especially in spring! Due to how light it is on the lips this will be perfect to wear for my new job. It’s definitely a shade for wearing to smart events and such. I doubt that I’ll wear it as a blush, as regular readers will know, I don’t wear a full face of make up. This was an absolute steal at just €29.00 considering they cost £28.00! I’m sure I’ll be reviewing this in the New Year.

• Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Protector in shade 01 Rose Shimmer

This is another product that I’ve been lusting after for ages, again since January and even before then! My friend Ali over at (Maliberry Makeup) reviewed this not long ago (link to that review here), which opened my eyes to this shade, as I had my eyes on another shade beforehand. This is a lovely non sticky lip gloss that gives a nice conditioning feeling to the lips, whilst leaving them with a natural shade, this one being a delicate pink shade, which is somewhat bright. These Clarins Lip Protectors also have a gorgeous sweet scent to them as well, an aspect I love in lip products. I’ve worn this to work a few times now and it looked natural and beautiful. It’s going to be a staple for me when I don’t fancy wearing anything dark on my lips. These cost £18.00 in the UK, but I picked this up for just €12.00 which is so damn cheap! I wish I had bought more now I’m back home, but two of these is more than enough.

• Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Protector in shade 05 Candy Shimmer

This was actually a gift from my dad. He managed to snag it alongside another present for me for just €8.00! I couldn’t believe it when he told me, but he’s got a way with words, like myself really when it comes to trying to snag bargains. This is the shade I have been lusting after for years after my friend Poppy reviewed it over on her blog years ago. It just looked like such a gorgeous darker pink nude shade, something I don’t find myself going towards to be honest. It’s more of a peach shade and definitely darker than Rose Shimmer. Like Rose Shimmer, it has the sweetie scent to it, which really gives it a lovely feel overall. I’m going to be wearing these loads throughout the warmer months of the year, as they’re not sticky at all, and are also lightweight.

I didn’t intend on buying any games whilst I was on holiday, but alas I did… Oops!

• Nintendo 3DS games – New Style Boutique 2 Fashion Forward and Cooking Mama Bon Appetit!

I wasn’t going to buy any games whilst on holiday… Even though I was looking for the Style Boutique game the day after arriving. I had downloaded the demo to play whilst there, and I fell in love with the game after finishing the demo. I didn’t buy it until a couple of days before we were due to go home, and I paid hardly anything on it too! It costs £28.00, but over there it only cost me €27.99, which I thought was pretty decent. A day later I went back to the electronic shop I bought the first game from and picked up a Cooking Mama game. I loved Cooking Mama when it first came out, so to be able to play a newer version of the series made me happy, and I paid even less for it than Style Boutique. It only cost me €21.99. I didn’t bring the games boxes back to the UK with me, instead I just bought the game chips with me, which is of course what you can spy in the picture above.

In the part of the island we live in/stayed in they have their market every Tuesday and Saturday from 10am until 2pm, so we had to go and have a quick mooch around before we were due to come home. We went on the last Tuesday we were there, and within an hour we were done looking around, and buying things for ourselves, as well as for other people. I bought myself a little something, and my dad bought me and my mom a few things too.

• Black Baggy Genie Pants/Trousers

This is what I ended up buying for myself. I saw one of the waitresses wearing some pants similar to these, and I fell in love with them, so I knew I had to find myself something similar. These were only €10.00 which is cheap as chips! I wish I had bought another pair now, but alas I left it to just one pair. I wore them loads the last couple of days we were on holiday, and I knew I would be bringing them home with me. They’re pretty thin so they’ll be good if I just want to quickly pop out to run errands, and especially great for summer days, and evenings out with friends.

• Rainbow Scarf

This was another purchase from the market, and one my dad bought for me. He wanted to buy my mom something nice to bring home for her, and the only thing he could think of getting her was a scarf. You could buy one scarf for €7.00, or two for €20.00 so he offered to get me one too. I couldn’t really find much I was after, but when I spotted this scarf I knew I had to have it. I used to love anything with a rainbow pattern on, have done since I was a kid. I don’t know why to be honest. Since getting home I’ve been wearing this scarf for my new job, and it’s really lovely.

• Michael Kors Small Riley Satchel in Navy

I didn’t buy this, but it was a gift from my parents, bought whilst me and my dad were on holiday. It’s an early Christmas present, and I would have bought it myself but it was pretty expensive, and since buying all my Christmas presents before I went on holiday I was pretty skint… This bag was really cheap too, and before anyone assumes it must be fake it is NOT. It is very much real. This originally cost €294.00 but with 30% off it went down to €210.00. This in pounds made it £152.00, a complete steal for a Michael Kors bag, especially when this is meant to cost £260.00 (in John Lewis) it was a really good price! So far I’ve been using it since the last couple of days of holiday, and so far at work and I love it. It’s a small bag, but it fits loads in there, and it fits in all the things I need and that’s it! I picked it up in the colour navy, even though they had it in a nude shade too. I would have loved it in red or purple to be honest, but beggars can’t be choosers and quite frankly navy is gorgeous anyway! I will be writing a post about this bag before the New Year, so keep your eyes peeled for it.

But that is all I picked up whilst I was on holiday! I don’t think I did too bad to be perfectly honest, as I could have bought more. I did also buy some presents for my mom, and a couple of things for my boyfriend, and my friends.

I had a lovely holiday though, and being able to treat myself after graduating from university was really good to do.

I doubt I’ll be treating myself anytime soon… Well maybe not until the Boxing Day sales anyway, or my birthday!

Have any of you bought yourself some little treats at all in the lead up to Christmas? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all, and I hope you’ve all had a great week so far.

Lip Wish List

Okay now I know the title of this post sounds odd but, bear with me. 😛

As regular readers or even friends of mine who read my blog will know, I don’t really wear make-up… Only lip products. Why? Because I like being this way.

When I was younger I always wore eye make-up and tinted lip balms but as I grew older I just didn’t like wearing make-up anymore and swapped pretty eye shadows and liners for gorgeous lipsticks instead. I’ve only ever worn concealer, foundation and blush once and it made me look fake and like a doll, I hated it and washed it off as soon as I could!

These days as well, even if I do see a pretty eyeshadow or liner that I would love to own, it would be a waste of money me buying it as eye make-up really hurts my eyes these days and as I wear glasses it’s pointless anyway. My eyelashes are naturally long (lucky me, eh?) so I don’t really need to wear mascara, but even if I wanted to I couldn’t. My eyelashes are so long they brush against the lenses of my glasses at times, so imagine how they would be with mascara on too?

So when I have a girly treat it’s usually on a lipstick or gloss or maybe even a new bottle of perfume and as I love wearing my lip products so much, I’m always finding new ones that I want to add to my collection… AND beauty bloggers don’t help that either! 😛

I’ve compiled a list of which ones I really want, both a mixture of expensive and affordable, so I hope you like this post, I thought it would be something different and you may even discover a lip product you never even knew existed! So enjoy!

L-R: NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo, Bourjois Paris Colour Boost Lip Crayon in Plum Russian, Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturising Lip Colour Balm in Plushest Punch, Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in Candy Shimmer, Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Lemonade & NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches & Cream.
BL: Korres Lip Butter in Wild Rose.
BR: OCC Lip Tar Stained Gloss in New Wave.

As you can see, I have a lot of products to talk about, so let’s get to it. There’s a mixture of lip creams, crayons, balms, butters, glosses, butters and even a stained gloss. It covers a bit of everything, well everything bar your standard lipstick, but I have plenty of those to keep me satisfied. I’ll be talking about these in the order they’re mentioned below the image, just to save confusion. 🙂

• NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo from nyxcosmeticsstore.co.uk – £5.50

I came to hear about this lip cream when searching for a duplicate colour for Lime Crime’s Red Velvet Velvetine. I looked at some beauty bloggers reviews for Monte Carlo and I was hooked on the shade. It’s a beautiful dark deep red shade that some beauty bloggers have commented saying that it’s more of a berry red, which is right up my street! I’ve never been a fan of the classic bright red lip, I’ve always liked my red lip shade to be dark and vampy looking and from checking out swatches of Monte Carlo online, it’s exactly that. As it’s a lip cream it will apply like a gloss but dries like a matte lipstick, but don’t forget it’s neither a lipstick or a lip gloss, it’s a lip cream. These are said to be moistursing and remind me of the lip creams by Collection 2000. I love my Collection 2000 Cream Puff lip creams (review for Fairy Cake here) but I would love to own more as they stay on the lips for ages and with the winter season coming up and dark lipsticks being all I wear during that season, I need this lip cream in my life as soon as possible. Plus it’s an affordable price and although I do need to shop around, NYX Cosmetics seem to have it at the cheapest price, however their delivery is £4.50, but as I want a few products from them, I may pay the postage fee… We shall see!

• Bourjois Paris Colour Boost Lip Crayon in Plum Russian from boots.com – £7.99

I eyed up these lip crayons by Bourjois when they first made their appearance over the summer. I’d seen them written about on most beauty blogs and Peach on the Beach caught my eye the most, however, when I went to swatch them in Boots one afternoon the colour no longer stood out to me, infact none of them did. The formula felt lovely and creamy mind and the type of product I would like to own in future. As if Bourjois heard my prayers that they would create some darker shades for autumn and winter, they brought out two new shades, one being Plum Russian. Many beauty bloggers described this as being a dupe of MAC Rebel (my review for that can be found here) but more creamy and upon checking out their swatches, I can see why they said this. After a week of searching for Plum Russian to see if these claims were accurate on my skin tone, I finally found it to swatch and it did look like a creamier version of Rebel on the back of the hand. As much as I love Rebel, it’s too dark for me to wear to work and its by far my favourite lipstick so it makes me a little sad, however I know this would be workable due to it being glossy and creamy. It’s not cheap at £7.99, so I’m going to wait until it’s on a 3 for 2 offer in Boots or Superdrug so I can pick up a few bits and pieces alongside it. I really do want to own a few more lip crayons, they’re easy to use and are really moisturising too, something we all need during the colder months.

• Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturising Lip Colour Balm in Plushest Punch from clinique.co.uk – £17.00

I saw this reviewed on Temptalia’s blog in March and since then I have been wanting this lip crayon for a while. As I always say when I mention her, she always does the best swatches out there and some of the best reviews I’ve ever read, I always pop over to her blog when I want a good review on a MAC lipstick. It’s described as a raspberry pink, which is always a nice shade that can be worn throughout the year from spring to winter. I’ve come to notice that Chubby Stick’s have always had mixed reviews, some saying they were a waste of money due to lack of moisturisation and no scent or taste, whilst others have liked that they don’t have any scent or taste to them and commented how pigmented they are. Clinique are known for their products being allergy tested and 100% fragrance free, so of course they aren’t going to smell or taste of anything, they’re fragrance free! It’d make a nice change to have a lip product that didn’t have a taste of scent to it, just for a change as most days lip products taste of chocolate, vanilla, etc and that just makes me hungry! Especially Rebel, which reminds of warm doughnuts from those little huts in town centers. Anyway, I’ve digressed… I still need to swatch Plushest Punch as for all I know I could go to swatch it in store and find that I already have a lip product this same colour. Either way it looks gorgeous and is something I would like to have in my collection. I’ve actually been looking at buying a little sampler version of this from eBay for less than £7.00, but whether I do or not… We shall see!

• Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in Candy Shimmer from clarins.co.uk – £17.00

In June my friend Poppy told me about this lip balm, which she also reviewed over on her blog so when I went over for a nose at swatches, as well as her thoughts and feelings on it, I got to see how gorgeous this is. I eventually popped into Clarins to swatch it and it’s a gorgeous pink with shimmer running throughout it. I nearly bought it there and then but I knew I needed to save money and put the tube back down and admired the swatch on the back of my hand for the rest of the afternoon. The applicator is made out of soft sponge and feels really soft, as well as feeling it, which will be really delicate on the lips if they’re sore. For a lip balm, it is a tad on the expensive side but I actually thought this was a lip gloss, but as Clarins describes this as a balm, I’ll go with that! This is the type of thing I would wear if I’m having an off day, or just for work! Have found this cheaper on eBay, but whether or not I buy it from there, I’m unsure but it’s in my watch list for now.

• Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Lemonade from boots.com – Was £7.99, now £5.99

I currently own three lip butters, Candy Apple, Sweet Tart and Wild Watermelon (reviews of these anyone?) so you wouldn’t think I’d need anymore, surely? Well we all thought wrong as I’ve seen at least four I’ve wanted, but I’ll be good and just want this one… For now. When Revlon released some more shades in June for the summer, Pink Lemonade was one of them and at first I didn’t like the look of it, it looked pale and just not my type of shade, but after seeing Maybe It’s Megan Leigh review this over at her blog (she’s love BTW!) I just fell in love with the colour. It’s a pastel pink shade but due to the lip butter formula it looks more like a sheer pink gloss, which can be wearable for any occasion. Like Clarins Candy Shimmer I’d probably wear this when I’m feeling a tad under the weather, as well as for work. I swatched this a few weekends ago and it looked lovely and I discovered it’s pretty build-able too, so if you wanted it to be a lighter pale pink you would only need one covering, but if you wanted a darker pale pink then pack it on (but not TOO much of course!) I was close to buying this when swatching it, but I’m not in any rush and I’ve found people put brand new lip butters on eBay and beauty blog sales for next to nothing, so I’m keeping my eyes peeled for now, but this being said, £5.99 isn’t a bad price for a Revlon Lip Butter.

• NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches & Cream from nyxcosmeticsstore.co.uk – £5.00

Another NYX product, but this one is a little different from Monte Carlo. I’ve never heard of a butter gloss until now and according to NYX Cosmetics website it’s a lip gloss that gives you a sheer to medium coverage on your lips and doesn’t leave being the sticky feeling that most of us dislike with lip glosses. It can be used alone or over a lipstick of a similar shade, I’d use this on its own though. Once again, I discovered this product through Maybe It’s Megan Leigh and you can check her post/review out about Peaches & Cream here. It looks like a gorgeous bubble gum pink, even though it sounds like it’s meant to resemble a creamy peach shade. Nevertheless it looks gorgeous and for £5.00 I would wear this butter gloss quite a lot. I’d wear it to work, when out and about, as well as when seeing my boyfriend. It claims to be nourishing too, which would be a nice treat during the cold winter days when my lips may feel chapped and dry. This sounds really thick and creamy and right up my street for the type of lip glosses I like.

• Korres Lip Butter in Wild Rose from feelunique.com – £8.00

I’ve never really seen the hype amongst beauty bloggers about Korres lip butters, until I looked closer at them. All the different scents have different shades too, Wild Rose is a deep berry colour, which reminds me of Illamasqua’s Magnetism lipstick (you can read my review of that here) Deep berry is one of my favourite shades I like to wear during autumn and winter but sometimes I want that dark lip, but at the same time I want to moisturise my lips. Most lip balms and butters won’t give the pigmentation that a lipstick or gloss will, but this lip butter appears to do just that and after reading Sparkly Vodka’s post about Wild Rose, I can safely say I NEED this in my handbag at all times! I’ve found this new on eBay cheaper, but I’ll be keeping my eyes out for this in future.

• OCC Lip Tar Stained Gloss in New Wave from love-makeup.co.uk – £12.00

Since Temptalia reviewed this in May this year, I’ve been after getting New Wave to add to my lip product collection. I have heard nothing but positivity about OCC Lip Tar’s, but I really want the gloss version of these, as whilst the normal lip tars look great, the added gloss just looks lovely! New Wave is described as a classy neon pink, which it looks to be from the swatches Temptalia shows on her post about it. It looks lovely and is the type of thing I would wear on a cold day to pick me up, due to its neon like colour. I reckon I would have such fun using this lip tar and it comes with a little brush so that you can apply it too. I wouldn’t use this for work as it sounds a little fiddly, it’d be more something I would use for evenings and nights out and probably days out shopping with friends, maybe for meals too. Either way, I know I’ll be getting myself a lip tar by 2014!

So that was my lip wish list! Technically MAC – Speak Louder lipstick should be on that list too, but that’s in my November Wish List, which you can find (here).

So do you own any of the lip products on my wish list? If so which ones and are they good or bad?

Do you have a lip wish list? Or even an eye-make up or nail polish wish list? If you do, please feel free to share some of the products you want.

Leave all this down in the comments. 🙂

Until next time take care!