Perfect Berry Shades For Winter – Guest Post

When Natalee said she was looking for some guest writers for her blog while she was on holiday, I jumped at the chance. Not only because she’s wonderful, but because it’s nice to write about something not related to my mental health! I write about my life with borderline personality disorder, you see – and it can get heavy at times with such a serious topic at hand. So it’s a nice change to write about something fun! Plus, I LOVE MAKE-UP. I really do. So I wanted to take this opportunity to write about it!

But first, a little story. I got married a few weeks ago, and my colour scheme involved rich berry tones along with purples and ivory. November is a month of change with autumn going into winter, the crisp colours of browns and golds going into plums and silvery whites, and being the totally non-traditional woman that I am, I was never going to be a traditional bride. I wanted colour to be a part of my look, I didn’t want to be all dressed in white. So, I took a part of my colour scheme and brought it into my look for the day… which brings me to this post!

As well as berry coloured shoes and sash on my dress to go with the berry coloured buttons in my handmade bouquet, I decided to be bold and wear a berry-toned lipstick. It wasn’t an easy decision. Here, I’m going to give you a rundown of my top five berry-toned lipsticks for winter, ending with the one I ended up wearing for my big day! So, without further ado…

Image taken from MAC Cosmetics website

5. MAC lipstick in Rebel – £15.50 from maccosmetics.co.uk

I have Natalee to thank for this classic making its way into my lipstick collection. On the site, it’s described as a ‘midtonal cream plum’ and it is seriously flattering on any skin tone. It does look more purple-toned on me, which wasn’t quite right for the wedding, but it did end up being worn by my bridesmaid! The Husband calls it my ‘going to war’ lipstick, as I always seem to wear it when I need that bit of confidence to get me through anything – and it seriously works. It is gorgeous, it feels amazing on the lips, and it smells heavenly and lasts for ages even without primer or liner. I usually have to remove it with baby oil as it always leaves a stain! Really worth the money and definitely a staple for the make-up bag.

Image taken from Rimmel London Cosmetics website

4. Rimmel The Only 1 lipstick in One of a Kind – £6.99 from Boots

The first ever lipstick I bought back in college was Rimmel Lasting Finish in Amethyst Shimmer. It probably would’ve looked fine on me, had I not insisted on the dark eye make-up along with it. Rimmel are touting this as a ‘lipstick revolution’ and while I usually guffaw at such statements, they have a right to brag. The quality is astounding, especially given the low cost and brand. It felt amazing on the lips, really creamy and soft, but it lasted a lot longer than expected from such a comfortable lipstick. The colour is a much more red-toned berry than Rebel, and I definitely will be rocking it over the winter months!

Image taken from Max Factor website

3. Max Factor Colour Elixir lipstick in Mulberry – £7.99 from Boots

I’m a huge fan of Max Factor. I swear by their mascara and foundation primer, and when I discovered their Colour Elixir lipsticks, I fell in love. Another creamy lipstick with added benefits – ‘A blend of 60% emollients, conditioners and antioxidants including vitamin E’ according to the Boots website. Mulberry is a vampy, dark shimmery shade that says “I’m here to party, and I will get off with that bloke I’ve fancied for ages because I am a goddess of the night.”

…or something like that, anyway.

With the added pampering benefits for your lips, I would definitely recommend it for the winter months when we could all do with a little help against the elements. And Christmas parties. Go get ‘em, tiger.

Image taken from Clinique website

2. Clinique Pop Lip Colour + Primer in Love Pop – £16 from Boots

There is a shade of this called Berry Pop which is very dark, which I imagine will be stunning for the season, but looked far too dark on me. The selling point of this lipstick is that you don’t need to wear primer underneath for it to stay on. A nice idea… but I didn’t think it worked out too well. However, with primer and liner, it upped the game. Love Pop is a soft, pink-toned berry which gives a very romantic look and is extremely wearable. It also feels amazing. I am a fan of this product, so much so that I have since purchased two more shades!

And in the number one spot, which made it to my face on my wedding day…

Image taken from Feel Unique website

1. Burt’s Bees Lip Crayon in Napa Vineyard – £8.99 from feelunique.com

PERFECT. WEDDING. COLOUR. I have seen people raving about these little crayons on reddit, and I can see why! The colour payoff is phenomenal, it feels just like a lip balm, and the finish is a very fashionable matte. It went perfectly with the colours we had, and it made me feel so glamourous and just finished the look in the way I wanted it to. The only downside is that it wasn’t very long lasting, even with primer and liner, but you know what? It looked perfect and I hope in the final photos you’ll be able to see just how much it made my final look.

So, there you have it! Thanks Nat for letting me write this for you, and I hope your readers go out and get their berry on – seriously, it’s a colour that looks good on everyone, and will never let you down.

If you’re interested in my blog about life with borderline personality disorder (BPD), visit me at http://allmouthnospoons.wordpress.com. I can also be found tweeting nonsense at http://twitter.com/MouthAndSpoons.

A huge thanks to Claire for writing this post up for me on such short notice! It’s the first of many guest posts that will be on my blog over the next month, which is pretty damn exciting! I love all the lipsticks she spoke about, especially Rebel which is by far my favourite lipstick. Which shades did you love? Make sure to leave Claire some love in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and see you when I’m back from holiday (I’ve officially been here a day now!)

Illamasqua Magnetism Lipstick Review

Whilst I have no reviewed all of my MAC lipsticks, this won’t stop me from carrying on reviewing what other lip products I have, and as this is one of my favourites I thought it was worth finally reviewing after nearly a year of owning it.

I remember when this lipstick came out and my friend Poppy recommended I go and try it. The first time I tried it I loved the colour, but decided to leave it because it was too much like Rebel, but after going to look at it again I realised whilst it was a lot like Rebel, it was more glossy than Rebel and it would be ideal for work, so I gave in and bought it!

This was my first Illamasqua purchase, and thus my first lipstick purchase from Illamasqua too. I love this lipstick and although I haven’t worn it since last winter, its been worn loads for work the past two weeks and I forgot how much I love it!

I remember it like yesterday that Magnetism came out for the Generation Q Collection and it looked so nice on the various different women who wore it for the promotional images. So I took myself the second time around to the Illamasqua counter in Selfridges and got them to put this on for me. It looked beautiful and I snapped it up, I had £16 to spare and thought it would be a nice autumn/winter treat for myself.

I’ve always been told how Illamasqua lipsticks are all a matte finish and to be honest, I hate matte lipsticks with a passion. They dry my lips out and chap them really quite badly so I tend to stay away, so when I found out that Magnetism was more of a creamy and sheen finish which are the type of lipsticks I sway toward.

The evening I bought this, I wore it out to a pub/bar with my friends. It lasted ages and I’ve been hooked on it ever since.

Illamasqua describes Magnetism as a deep raspberry pink, but doesn’t state what finish it is, like MAC does. This is a permanent shade, even though I think when it was released (about) a year ago, it was meant to be a limited edition lipstick for the collection. I’m glad its permanent however as its such a gorgeous lipstick and probably  the only Illamasqua one I’ll purchase, until they make anymore finishes like this one anyway. The lipstick itself comes in Illamasqua’s usual black rectangular packaging, which is shiny black and has Illamasqua’s name printed on the lipsticks lid. The packaging for their lipsticks is simple, but I like simple things, personally.

The lipstick itself can look scary to some due to the fact it is a dark pink shade, but when applied to the lips it looks like a gorgeous dark pink that most skin tones would suit. It is pretty much a dupe of MAC’s Rebel, but Magnetism is more creamy than Rebel and leaves a glossy finish, whereas Rebel leaves more of a matte finish.

The finish that this lipstick leaves is beautiful and due to it being so creamy your lips don’t feel dry and it looks like you have a clear gloss over the top. This lipstick does feather but it does so in such a nice way. An example of this being when I first wore it to work, after about three or four hours of hard labor it feathered, but it left behind a nice just bitten affect, which I really liked and with some lip balm applied to the lips and a bit of rubbing with your ring finger, your lips will look just bitten and gorgeous.

I wouldn’t wear a lip liner with this lipstick as I feel it really would ruin the lipsticks beautiful colour.

This lipstick does have a slight scent of something to it, but I don’t know if it is vanilla or just my nose playing me up. Either way the scent doesn’t bother me and it doesn’t taste unpleasant so that doesn’t bother me either.

When I first bought this it soon replaced Rebel but after a while Magnetism was beaten and replaced by Rebel instead. This lipstick is gorgeous though and for me is ideal for work, whereas Rebel isn’t.

If you’re contemplating trying Rebel but you’re too scared to due to how dark and scary it does seem, I say go for Magnetism instead as while it is a dupe, its glossy and looks less scary than Rebel does.

I’ve worn this lipstick on many dates in the past, whether they be with guys or even on dinner/drink dates with my favourite girls and I’ve always found in a hurry that this lipstick’s lid has been shot across many tables at most restaurants and bars in Birmingham. Embarrassing, yes but it has left me shaking my head at this lipstick whenever I go to apply it since.

I’m so glad I have this lipstick in my collection and this month it has fast become one of my favourites to wear for work and I get nothing by compliments from customers, which I lovely in itself!

It retails for £16.50 from Illamasqua but now that Illamasqua stock their products on Debenhams website you may be able to try and get it for a maximum of 20% off in their beauty sales in future. Keep those eyes peeled!

I really love Magnetism and it’s pretty much become my staple for work, especially in the mornings when I need a pick me up or I’m feeling a little low. I only wear lip products, make up wise and rely on a strong lipstick to brighten up my whole face. Magnetism does this perfectly and even in the spring and summer months, this lipstick could be pulled of beautifully.

What do you think of Magnetism? Do you own it, if not have you had your eye on it? Please let me know in the comments down below!

I’ll keep trying to write lipstick reviews, I have enough of them to talk about!

Until next time, take care and have a good week everyone!

MAC Rebel lipstick review

After months, maybe even a year of saying I would review this lipstick, I’m FINALLY getting round to reviewing it!

For years I had always wanted a MAC lipstick, especially after buying MAC’s Mineralize Eyeshadow in Sea & Sky, which was my first MAC purchase.

Rebel was my second MAC purchase but my first lipstick and I know it won’t be my last one, as I now proudly own four MAC lipsticks and already have my eye on two more.

I remember looking on Temptalia’s blog at all the MAC shades and colours and I couldn’t decide which one I liked the most so I wrote out a massive list to them all and headed up town to the MAC counter in Selfridges.

I must have had about 10 lipstick shades on that list and hardly any of the even existed anymore, but I was determined I was going to be purchasing a lipstick that day and swatched all the ones that were available to try and buy that day. Eventually it was a heads up between Girl About Town and Rebel and as you can tell, Rebel one. I also had one of my friends with me who agreed with the assistant that Rebel really suited me. So I bought it and left it on all afternoon!

I even wore it out in the evening after a sudden decision to go clubbing.

MAC describes Rebel as a mid-tonal cream plum  and it’s a satin finish. Of course Rebel is a permanent shade and also comes in a lip glass of the same name. Due to it being a permanent shade it comes in the legendary black and silver bullet.

Okay now I realise how scary Rebel looks when you first try it out, but when it is applied to the skin for a swatch or to the lips it turns out to be a lot lighter than it appears and is as MAC describes, a plum colour. As I mentioned, Rebel is a satin and three out of four of my MAC lipsticks happen to be a satin finish and from this I have discovered that I love the finish that satin gives you. It’s drying without it being matte and thus lasts a long time, especially if blotted. This is where my first experience comes into this review.

I went clubbing with friends, so that involved a lot of drinking, I was single at the time so I was kissing my friends as well as a guy I had been dancing with that night and lots of singing too. I didn’t have to apply Rebel all that much because it was just lasting for ages!

However with Rebel I find it does feather, but that’s nothing a lip liner can’t fix and I’ve seen the perfect MAC lip liner that will go with Rebel, but I need to save up to buy it yet.

I did worry for a while when I first bought this that it would make me look really pale and end up being a wasted lipstick and never be worn. How wrong I was, as this is one of my favourite lipsticks. In all honesty I can imagine all skin tones pulling this off, even the palest or darkest of people.

As well as this looking gorgeous on the lips it smells and tastes really nice too. When I first bought it and was sniffing it reminded me of doughnuts you would get from one of those little stands in town, although many disagree and say it smells more like vanilla. Either way it smells delicious and tastes it too.

I’m so glad my friend encouraged me to buy this lipstick a year ago, I would have regretted it otherwise as I said before, this is one of my favourite lipsticks I’ve ever owned and as soon as it runs out I’ll be going back to MAC to re-purchase this.

It retails for £15.00 from MAC but sometimes Debenhams will have their % off sale on beauty, which often includes MAC and is usually where I try and get my MAC lip products from whenever I want something new.

Picture has a higher saturation than the original to show Rebel’s colour better than the original image did.

I really love Rebel and I only ever wear it during autumn and winter due to how dark it is and I’m so glad September is less than a week away now as I can’t wait to start wearing this again! I’ve really missed wearing it throughout spring and summer. Going to be covering plenty of people’s cheeks in purple kisses!

What do you think of Rebel? Do you own it, if not have you had your eye on it? Please let me know in the comments down below!

Next week I’ll have another MAC lipstick review for you lucky lot! You excited? You better be. 😛

Until next time, take care and have a good week everyone!

8 Most Worn Things Tag

Happy Bank Holiday everyone! I hope everyone’s day is going well so far! I’ll be at work when this post is made live on my blog, but by the time I get home I’ll have met my boyfriend at work and be cooking us dinner and having some much-needed cuddle time after not seeing each other for over a week. Which believe you and me, has sucked!

But anyway, another week, another tag!

I really enjoy doing tags, they’re so enjoyable to read so even more enjoyable to join in on too.

After reading Maliberry’s 8 Most Worn Things on Friday I decided I would give it a go myself after she tagged anyone who read her post. Go and check out Mali’s blog, she’s a wonderful person and an amazing beauty blogger.

It was really hard to try and answer some of these tags as I couldn’t pick one item for the majority, but the more the merrier eh?

1. Most worn lipstick/gloss?

Left: MAC Rebel.
Right: MAC Lickable.

I couldn’t pick one lipstick, no matter how hard I tried to pick between these two I just couldn’t decide. When it comes to autumn and winter I just use both on and off over the course of each week. These are my two favourite lipsticks and depending on what I’m wearing, where I’m going etc will depend with one I reach for to wear, whether it be day or night. FYI reviews for both of these are scheduled for this Thursday and next.

2. Most worn fragrance?

Left: Freak by Illamasqua.
Right: Loverdose by Diesel.

Once again, I couldn’t pick one and I ended up having two choices for this question. These are both 30ml bottles so I usually throw these into my handbag whenever I’m going to work, a night out or over to my boyfriends for the weekend. The less I have to carry in my weekend bag when I stay over, the better! I love Freak, it smells like nothing I have ever smelt before and as soon as this bottle runs out I’ll be buying another one.

My Mom bought me Loverdose as a Christmas present years ago and I’m only coming towards the end of it now. I nearly bought a 50ml bottle when it was on offer in Boots, but I didn’t have enough money and had to leave it. As soon as I have spare cash I’ll be repurchasing it. It smells really unique too. Both these perfumes are great to use throughout the entire year whether it be day or night.

3. Most worn nail polish?

Frilly Knickers by Butter London.

This is by far my favourite and most used since my Mom bought it me in May. It looks lovely on its own as well as applied over darker colours. It dries matte so I often use this over nail print designs so that they dry quickly and look nice at the same time. I love this polish so much, I’m going to paint my nails with it later today me thinks.

4. Most worn hair product?

Left: Head & Shoulders Citrus Fresh.
Middle: Philosophy Summer Grace Shampoo, Bath & Shower Gel.
Right: Liz Earle Botanical Shine Conditioner.

I don’t really use products on my hair and whenever I have I’ve fast regretted it. I don’t use dry shampoo as it annoys me how it is pretty much talcum powder and gets everywhere! Plus I don’t really straighten my hair or design it in any way so I don’t really use gel or hair spray. I just wash my hair with Head & Shoulders to get any dirt and dandruff out, then wash with a nice shampoo, which is currently Summer Grace until I have money to buy some nice shampoo and finally my Liz Earle conditioner, which I love! It makes my hair so lovely and soft.

5. Most worn handbag?

Front of tartan backpack from New Look.

Back of tartan backpack from New Look.

I love this bag so much. It suites everything I wear and it’s such a huge bag that you can throw everything in it and still have room for more things. I remember buying it after a crap first day at my work experience at a well-known newspaper (which shall not be named…) and I wanted some retail therapy. This bag isn’t available anymore and at the time I had wanted this bag for months so I was glad to finally have it. I have thought about adding some studs onto the pockets on the front and along the straps too, but whether I do this or not, I’m unsure, we shall see. I definitely want to stick some badges on it… Think I’ll do that after I finish this post…

6. Most worn earrings?

… Okay I don’t have my ears pierced so I’m having to change this to:

6. Most worn jewellery?

Closed red heart locket necklace.

Open red heart locket necklace.

My Mom bought me this locket back in 2009/2010 and it’s one of the nicest things she could have bought me. It didn’t cost a lot but it’s the thought that counted. We were in Argos when she was buying herself something, she could see I was looking at the necklaces and said, “Nat you don’t have any proper jewellery do you?” to which I shook my head and she asked which necklace I would like, to which she bought me this locket. Still to this day I haven’t put any pictures inside of it and I don’t really have a reason why. Whenever I wear this I get such lovely compliments and it always makes me think of my Mom.

7. Most worn shoes?

Studded flat shoes from Topshop

Yellow, red and black skate shoes by Vans.
Checkered black & white laces by Vans.

Brothel creepers from Shoe Zone.

Triumph 12 Eyelet Leather Boots by Dr Martens.
Post about them here.

I’m sorry but I just couldn’t wear one pair of shoes, I just couldn’t! I wear a different pair all the time. I bought my Topshop flats at the start of 2012 but never started to wear them until spring this year. They’re the most wonderful shoes and I doubt I’ll wear them as much in the autumn and winter time.

My Vans skate shoes are the oldest shoes I own and I bought them when I was 16 years old, so they’re seven years old and still to this day they’re pretty much my favourite shoes. If I could wear them for work, my life would be complete! They’re just so damn comfortable and have never let me down during the winter time when it’s icy.

My creepers are great and out of all the pairs here were the cheapest. I don’t wear these as much as I used to but I know as autumn and winter comes along these will replace my flats. This my second pair of creepers as my first pair got massive holes in the bottoms.

Finally my Dr Martens. I’ve owned these over a year now and they’re also my favourite shoes. If you check out how they used to look when I first bought them, you’ll see how well-worn they’ve grown over the year. I’ve worn these in spring, summer, autumn, winter, to Stratford Upon Avon, to Coventry, to Wolverhampton, to Cheltenham and in pretty much every club in Birmingham. I love these boots so much and will wear them lots throughout autumn and winter.

8. Most worn shirt?

Black poodle t-shirt by Altru.

The Amazing Spider-Man sweatshirts both from Forever 21.

I actually have five shirts altogether but I cut out two from being in this post due to realising I don’t wear them all as much as I do with these three. I bought my poodle t-shirt back in 2009/2010 from Urban Outfitters during one of their sales. I wore it to university all the time and also on nights out. One afternoon it wasn’t traceable anywhere in the house and it upset me that I could have lost one of my favourite t-shirts. Two days later still with no luck of finding it I purchased another, only to arrive at home to my Mom saying, “Nat I found that t-shirt, it was inside a pillowcase!” but I never returned the second t-shirt so now I have two of them. That t-shirt is also slightly famous, it features on an advert that I’m in for the university that I attended, which is pretty cool.

I love Spider-Man and I have done from a young age and when I saw these in Forever 21 (on different occasions/years) I just had to try them on and buy them. The red one was the first I bought in 2012 and it was something I wore quite a lot throughout the winter months with a pair of baggy jeans during the day and shorts for nights out. I’ve worn it for bed before now too just because it’s so damn comfortable, as well as looks really nice with your hair down and some bed shorts. The grey one I bought a couple of months ago and while it was a silly thing to buy at the time due to the warm weather, I knew if I didn’t I would never see it again and I haven’t since, so it was a good idea to buy it. I wore it for the first time the weekend before last and it was so comfortable to wear with skinny jeans. I’m planning on wearing either one of these at work tomorrow, not sure which one…

So we have come to the end of my 8 most work things and thus the end of this tag.

I really enjoyed doing it and I tag ALL OF YOU to do it too!

Please link your blog down below if you do it, I’d love to see your answers to the questions.

Hope you enjoyed this post and I also hope your bank holiday is going well.

Until next time, take care all and have a great day!