Makeup Favourites from 2014

It was quite hard to narrow down my makeup favourites of the year because I discovered some incredible new products, especially over the last three months. I've basically just included the things that I reached for the most as well as a couple of newer products that I just really, really love.

For my Eyes

There's only been one eyeshadow palette that I've been reaching for throughout the year, and that's The Balm's Nude'tude Palette. My favourite shades are definitely 'Stand-offish' and 'Selfish', but all the shades are really wearable in a gorgeous buttery formula. My other eyeshadow favourite is Maybelline's Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze which I've used so much that I've nearly finished it! Honourable Mention: Wild About Beauty's Eyeshadow in Eva 

For my Face

My most used foundation has definitely been Revlon's Colorstay Foundation for Combination/Oily Skin in the shade Buff. I've just finished my bottle and have repurchased it in a slightly darker shade so that I can wear it next summer. My favourite concealer of the year has definitely been Seventeen's Stay Time Concealer, it's so light and blendable and gives a really natural looking finish. Honourable Mention: Real Techniques' Makeup Sponge

For my Cheeks

In terms of blush, the only powder blush that I've been wearing pretty much all year is Green People's Powder Blush in Peach*. However, the competition for my favourite cream blush has been fierce, but I think that I've definitely reached for Stila's Convertible Colour Trio in Cool the most out of the blushes in my collection. But my favourite new discoveries of the year by far have been from RMS Beauty - I have completely fallen in love with their Living Luminizer and Buriti Bronzer, I've been wearing them everyday since I discovered them. Honourable Mention: Benefit's Highbeam

For my Lips

I've discovered some incredible new lipsticks this year and I've picked a couple of my favourite formulas and shades. Hands down my favourite formula is Glo & Ray's La Amo Creamy Matte Lip Colour*, it's lightweight but offers opaque colour and it lasts really well. I've also been loving Ilia's Lip Conditioner in the shade These Days*, a really beautiful frosted bronze in a creamy and moisturising formula. Colour wise, two other favourites of mine are from Oriflame and Wild About Beauty. Oriflame's The One 5 in 1 Colour Stylist Lipstick in Fuchsia Hype* is an absolutely stunning, bright pink. Whereas Wild About Beauty's Nurtrilips Balm in Hannah* is a gorgeous, easy-to-wear, sheer berry that seems to work with everything. Honourable Mention: Living Nature's Lipstick in Summer Rain*

What have been some of your makeup favourites this year?

What's In My Handbag

I haven't done one of these types of posts before but I do enjoy reading them! I have to admit that I did forget to include my iPhone in the above picture and I usually also always lug my blogging camera around with me but I was using it to take the photo… so you're going to just have to use your imagination and pretend I've included them.

My handbag is one of Topshop's studded clutch bags (but I wear it with a strap) which I picked up off Ebay for just under £10. I'm so over Topshop's pricing but there are sometimes pieces that I just can't live without, so I usually try my best to pick them up the next season when everyone puts them on ebay! My purse is from Osprey and this was a similar "bargain" as I picked it up from TK Maxx just over a year ago. I didn't realise how battered it looked until I came to photograph this post! I'll have to look into getting a new one soon.

As a Londoner I'm obliged to carry around an oyster card wherever I go and I currently have mine housed in a Lipcote travel card holder that I got at an event a looong time ago. Again, this is something I need to upgrade in the new year! If you have any suggestions on where to find stylish card holders then I'd love to hear them. I also always carry around a pen and a little notebook - I'm a list writer and I much prefer hand writing notes than putting them onto my phone. 

Beauty-wise, I always have at least a couple of bits in my handbag, although not as many as you might think. I deliberately carry a small bag so I have to limit what I use on a regular basis. I always carry a hairbrush, and at the moment I'm loving my Compact Styler TangleTeezer*. I usually also carry a hairspray to add volume or tame my hair if I end up looking a bit windswept. At the moment I'm loving Umberto Giannini's Backcomb in A Bottle* which is honestly the best volumising aerosol spray that I've ever tried - and the dinky bottle is perfect for carrying around with me!

In terms of makeup I really don't ever carry around much! I usually carry a mirror - in the form of either RMK's Kaleidoscope Nuance Colour* or Stila's Convertible Colour Blush Palette, or on this occasion I found both in my bag! I also usually carry a lip balm, at the moment I'm keeping EOS's Blueberry and Acai* lip balm in my bag. When I apply this in public I get so many funny looks, but it's a nice one to use on-the-go. I'd then usually throw in whatever lipstick or gloss I'd put on that morning and carry that around with me too. But apart from these items I'm not someone to lug a big makeup bag around with me. I'd rather apply long lasting makeup that I can trust, or add a little bit of powder if I know I'm going to be wearing cream blushes (in which case I'd just throw a clean Real Techniques face brush into the inner pocket of my bag and powder using my RMK Nuance Colour).

What are your handbag essentials?

Getting Creative With Cream Blushes

I'm always lusting after new shades but sometimes it just isn't affordable to buy new products so it's great when you discover new ways to wear things you already own.  One of the real benefits of cream products is that you can change them up - by mixing two cream products together you can end up with a totally new colour. This week I've been playing around with mixing my cream blush shades to create new and unique colours for my makeup looks. 

I've been using my Real Techniques' Stippling Blush to apply some blush to my hand and then I mix in a second shade with my finger. Once I've fully blended them together with my stippling blush I just apply the cream blush as I normally would. Creating my own new shades has brought a lot of fun back to products that have been in my collection for a long time as it has made them feel new all over again. It's also allowed me to use colours that I don't otherwise own. I've been mixing my RMS Buriti Bronzer with a hint of Stila's Convertible Colour in Lilium to achieve a light brown blush shade that I really love. Another great combination can be made by mixing two of Illamasqua's Cream Blushes, in the shade Libido and Rude. The result is a lighter, more orange toned red that completely enlivens my complexion. 

The best part is that the possibilities are nearly endless! Not only can you experiment with colour but you can also adjust the consistency of your blushes by mixing very creamy or even liquid blush with thicker and stiffer blush to create entirely new textures. I've found it fun, and it's reminded me that although ultimately make-up is about helping us look a certain way it can (and I think should) be an enjoyable and creative process.

What Made The Shortlist (AKA another travel beauty bag)

This week (since Monday) I've been in Shropshire visiting one of my best friends. Usually when I visit him we tend to do a lot of outdoorsy stuff so I'm don't spend a lot of time worrying about what I look like or what make-up I'm wearing. That being said, we did also make plans to visit some of the local towns on more gentile excursions so at least some make-up was going to be needed and today I'm going to share with you what I decided to take with me. In case you're interested in trying any of these products for yourself, and want to know more about them, I've included links to any reviews I've done on the products I'm mentioning.

I always seem to have a mini Benefit the PoreFessional Primer in my collection and it is my travel primer of choice. Nowadays, when I'm not travelling I very rarely use it - I much prefer mixing The Body Shop's Instablur All in One Primer with Revlon's PhotoReady Skin Illuminator in in Bare Light. I find that it's a more affordable option that not only adds radiance to my skin but really helps with the longevity of my make-up. However, when it comes to travelling I do prefer the dinky Benefit primer because it takes up so little space.

For my base I've generally been mixing my foundations because I am in between shades. When I was in Amsterdam I got a bit of a tan and now all of my foundations are too light for me, including Rimmel Wake Me Up in Ivory but being the darkest foundation I own it is the best of the bunch. For concealing, I've been reaching for Lavera's Natural Concealer in Ivory which offers very light coverage but is dreamily blendable. It doesn't cover as much as I'd like but it is very good for everyday wear and I'm going to be doing a full blog post on it in the near future.

For my cheeks I thought I'd take my Stila Convertible Colour Trio in Cool which gives me three shades to play with and I absolutely love these blushes. They last incredibly well on my skin and the colours are really flattering, I'd highly recommend them! For highlighting my cheekbones I'm taking my Catrice Made to Stay Highlighting Pen because I'm sort of between highlighters at the moment. Although I don't mind this highlighter from Catrice I am looking for something new, preferably a natural and cruelty free product, that I could swap into my routine. If you know of something I could try recommendations would be welcomed!

I've only planned on taking one lipstick (which is very unlike me) because I don't think I'll want to wear anything else. I've really been loving Living Nature's Lipstick in Summer Rain* and if you want to see what it looks like you can see me wearing it in yesterday's post. It's the most easy to wear raspberry shade and the formula is really moisturising. It's all I've worn on my lips this week, which is quite something because I love trying out new lipsticks. For eye makeup, I've opted for a couple of my old favourites. For mascara, I chose to take MaxFactor's Masterpiece Mascara in Black/Brown, I like this because it adds loads of length, doesn't flake or smudge but is still easy enough to remove (which is good because I'm not taking my full skincare routine away with me). I also decided to take Essence's Stays No Matter What Waterproof Eyeliner because it has become a bit of a daily staple. I find it lasts very well for such an incredibly affordable product and I primarily use it on my upper lash line to enhance the look of my eyelashes. 

Lastly, for my eyebrows I've been opting for a heavier brow look using Cosmetics A La Carte's Brow Ink in Taupe and Catrice's Eyebrow Filler. I use the brow ink to fill in my brows and then go over them with the tinted eyebrow gel (if you want to know what this looks like I was using this combo in the FOTD in yesterday's lipstick post). I really like using these two products together and I think the brow ink is particularly good, it lasts incredibly well and is very easy to build up the exact look that you want.

That's all I'm taking with me, apart from a couple of Real Techniques' brushes - the Buffing Brush, Stipling Brush and Expert Face Brush. I hope that you've enjoyed having a peep into this week's make-up bag - if you like this sort of make-up overview post (I don't know if it is interesting or a bit too rambly) I could write them more often as regular weekly beauty feature. 

What make-up have you been wearing a lot this week? Would you recommend any of it?

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Review: Stila Convertible Color Trio in Cool

Stila's Convertible Colors (which are multi-purpose cream products for cheeks and lips) have been getting quite a lot of attention for a while now. At £16 a pop they seemed thoroughly out of my price range, especially as there was no way that I could settle on just one shade. However, when I spotted the Convertible Color Trios on FeelUnique, which offered three shades for £23, I gave in to temptation and splurged [although I'd like to make it clear that I bought this product before my spending ban started and have been trialing it for a couple of months]. I chose the 'Cool' palette which contains the shades Peony, Lillium and (a limited edition shade) Cherry Blossom (there is also a 'Warm' palette available which contains different shades). Although the amount of product you get of each shade is much less than if you were to buy each colour individually, I don't often finish make-up and I prefer to have a variety of colours so at £23 this palette seemed perfect for me.

left to right: Peony, Lillium, Cherry Blossom.

All three shades in this palette are gorgeous. I have found that they all work very well against my pale skin as it is easy to apply them lightly, however, I've also experimented with building the colour up for deeper, less subtle, shade and they also work very well when used like that. I think my favourite colour in the palette is actually Cherry Blossom (which you can't buy individually) although the colour that I bought the palette for was Lillium. Cherry Blossom and Lillium look relatively similar in my swatch (and in the pan) but Lillium is a lot pinker than Cherry Blossom. Cherry Blossom is great when used as a subtle bronzing or contouring shade as it is quite brown so can really help to shape my pale face without making me look dirty or orange. Lillium, however, has a lot more pink to it - and you can just about see that when you look at it for long enough. When you blend it out on the skin the colour is incredibly flattering for a subtle wash of colour and I think it is the easiest shade of the three to work with. It goes with a lot of make-up looks and unless it is built up a lot it looks incredibly natural. Peony is definitely not the normal sort of colour I'd wear, it looks incredibly Barbie-esque when swatched. However, when applied lightly and blended out it gives a really fresh glow to the face which is especially useful on days when you desperately want to look more awake without piling on make-up. I was incredibly surprised at how much I liked using it and I think that this colour works best in a high quality form., such as Stila's Convertible Colors. 

All three shades are very light feeling and blend amazingly well. I use my Real Techniques Stippling Brush to first apply them to the high point of my cheek bones and then blend the colour down my cheek with my fingers. The result is seamless make-up and a glowing finish that lasts for about six hours. If I applied these in the morning I would like to reapply them after six hours to regain the full initial impact of their colour and dewy finish, however, the colour does linger for a bit longer than that. 

My overall opinion of the Stila Convertible Colors is that they are really fabulous products. The shades are all beautiful and the formula is incredible to work with. I think they are on par with Illamasqua's Cream Blushes (which I really love) and now that I've had the opportunity to really try them out I do think they are worth their hefty price tag. The Cool Palette is currently out of stock on FeelUnique but if you like the idea of trying out three colours for £23 then you might want to give the Warm Palette a once over.

Do you like wearing cream blushes? Have you tried/or wanted to try Stila's Convertible Colours?

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Beauty Wishlist March 2013

[all images taken from http://www.asos.com]

Nars Eyeshadow Duo in Kalahari
Bourjois Blush Pot in Rose D'Or
Nars Bronzing Powder in Laguna
Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Prickly Pear
Rimmel London's Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Liner in Bright Blue
Stila Colour Balm Lipstick in Valentina

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