On the Hunt for the Perfect Neutral Lip

Today's lipstick post is dedicated to the perfect neutral lip. By a neutral lip I don't exactly mean a 'nude' lip. No, today's post is about my hunt for that tantalizing my lips but better colour that could manifest itself in a hundred different shades with perfection lying in just one. The neutral lip will vary person to person but it is elusive and much sought after by pretty much every woman who's "into" lipstick. My best friend recently told me that she only really owns one lipstick and that certainly she only wears one lipstick because she was only interested in the one for her. Well, my hunt for a perfect neutral lipstick is similar to that desire. Only, in myself this interest has manifested itself in a trial and error process rather than the ruthless deduction that her shopping habits, or lack thereof, signify. I have five neutral lip shades to show you and these are the favourites among my collection, although I have a feeling that perfection is still a shade away...

My Favourite Lip Balms

We'll start off with my two Body Shop Lip Butters, one is in 'Sweet Lemon' flavour which Tom bought be for my birthday whilst we were travelling this Summer and the other is the Dragon Fruit flavour which I picked up last month. Both smell gorgeous and are richly moisturising, I can see myself repurchasing these over and over again as I use almost daily before I go to bed.

AWESOME FREEBIES #4: Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Black and Purple

I subscribed to Glamour about 2 weeks ago and a couple of days ago I recieved these two Eyeko liquid eye liners which were apparently came free with a subscription. I love subscription gifts especially when you weren't expecting them! (I genuinely just signed up because I read the magazine each month and the subscription price was really cheap) Also, I've never tried a product by Eyeko before so I was doubly pleased that this was the free gift.

THIS WEEK'S MOST REACHED FOR: Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate Moss and MaxFactor's Colour Elixir Lipstick

 

So this week it was a real toss up between these two lipsticks but I thought I'd include both as I've been wearing the MaxFactor Colour Elixir Lipstick in Bewitching Coral for most days and I've been wearing Rimmel's Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate Moss in 107 for most evenings.

AWESOME FREEBIES #3: November magazine freebies

After my lectures finished for the day I heading into town to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower with Tom and on my way I popped into Sainsburys to buy some magazines. I knew about the InStyle benefit freebies from reading last month's magazines, but Marie Claire's excellent freebies were a welcome surprise!

BUDGET BEAUTY #3: Carmex Lip Balm

All of the Carmex Lip Balm range is currently on 50% off at Superdrug so last week I thought I'd stock up on lip balms before the weather gets any worse as I'll definitely be needing them.

REVIEW: Pearl Drops Beauty Sleep

I recently picked up Elle magazine at my University's Fresher's fair and in the Beauty section there was an article highlighting how many of us, even those who take thorough care of our skin or hair, neglect our teeth. I for one always thought I was doing enough to take care of my teeth but it really highlighted that I could do more. So when I was emailed last week and asked if I would like to test out Pearl Drops' new overnight teeth whitening product I jumped at the chance to give my teeth some pampering.

NOTD: Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint

So this is the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Watermelon. I only just got this little beauty in the post this morning but as soon as I saw it I knew that I loved with the colour, its a very dark teal / a dark green with a touch of blue.

Sleek's i-Divine Respect Palette: Swatches

This is just a short post to let you know that I picked this up from Superdrug yesterday and that I already really love it.

AWESOME FREEBIES #2 Soap and Glory Thick and Fast Mascara

So up here in Leeds last week was freshers' week and I managed to blag myself quite a few freebies, but my only beauty related freebie came from the Elle stand which was outside my Student Union last Wednesday. I didn't really know what was going on at the stand but when I went over I found out that they were selling this month's issue of Elle for just £1 (which is great because I hadn't bought it yet) and along with the magazine they were giving away a full size  Soap and Glory's Thick and Fast Mascara which has an RRP of £10 .

THIS WEEK'S MOST REACHED FOR: Rimmel Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch

Rimmel Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch in Shimmering Sand

The Friday before last I went a little bit nuts in Superdrug (I justified this as a 'back to Uni essentials' haul) and just by chance I happened to pick this product up. I've seen quite a few mini-reviews of Rimmel's Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch by bloggers who were sent products to review in-line with the new Rimmel products launching at the beginning of October. But what I haven't seen is a review by someone who really loved it, so this is what this week's most reached for post is going to be all about.

FREEBIES: What's In My Handbag

This post is exceedingly late in the making, but I really do think better late than never! About 6 weeks ago I was greeted with a special little gift from the website What's In My Handbag. I signed up to 'try' the Yves Saint Laurent mascara (why not, eh!) pictured above and a couple of weeks later, completely out of the blue, I recieved a little black box in the post that had the above sample in it.

BUDGET BEAUTY #1: Collection 2000 Cream Puff

Collection 2000 Cream Puff Lip Creams in Angel Delight and Fairy Cake

I only discovered these in the last month or so and they have been getting some serious love. These lip creams apply like a thick lip gloss and as they dry they transform into a matte lip stain that really doesn't budge. I love using them for easy day time lips as they don't need regular touch ups (I hate the thought of flaky lip colour, or colour on my teeth. Just ewww!). If like me you're starting up again at University and you've got seminars or tutorials coming up then these little beauties will save you worrying about if you're looking silly in front of your new class mates!

REVIEW: The Body Shop- Foundation Lip Butter

                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                          

As a fan of the lip butters already I was excited when the new Dragon Fruit flavour was released and actually hurried out to buy it as soon as I could. Sadly, however, after about 24 hours of excitement and love it was thrown into the depths of my handbag and only rediscovered a week ago.

THIS WEEK'S MOST REACHED FOR: L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream

 L'OREAL NUDE MAGIQUE BB CREAM in light.
(you can tell its gotten a lot of love from the state of the packaging!)

Until I used this BB cream I just didn’t think that BB creams were for me. I’d tried a number of other brands and they’d all been too dark, too thick or greasy and just hadn’t given me the coverage I was looking for. But in the midst of summer I decided that I wanted and needed an alternative to foundation (which I just don’t enjoy wearing when the sun comes out in all of its glory) as I’m not one of those girls who feels comfortable going bare faced on a daily basis. Driven by my urge to find some middle ground I picked this up on a whim from a train station Boots store and on that one particular occasion I feel as though I struck gold.

Since buying this cream it has been a firm staple in my make-up bag, I’ve actually used it nearly everyday for the last month (even when I went on holiday last week). This BB cream feels a bit weird when you first apply it as it is very white initially and full of tiny beads and only when applied to the skin do they release their colour.

The white section is what the cream looks like when first applied, the skin above it has had BB cream blended in. It looks a little dark for my hand but I'm quite tanned (for me) at the moment and the colour it gives is perfect for my face.

The colour that the Light BB cream leaves me with is perfect for my lightly tanned post-summer skin tone and the cream sinks into the skin quickly and evenly. The coverage it gives is light but not so light as to not even out my pigmented cheeks and to smooth over light blemishes and dark under-eye circles. Its perfect for lazy days (which I’ve been having a lot of lately) where you can’t be bothered to apply a full face of foundation and also for days when you don’t feel you need anything more than light coverage.

This cream served me well in the hot climate of Athens as well as in sunny (but not overly hot) London and I’m pretty sure that now I’m back in the cooler North of England for University that I will still get a lot of use out of it. Selling for only £.9.99 in Boots I think it is not only affordable but a bargain and I’m definitely going to pick up another tube soon. I urge you to try it out as you never know if it might just end up being one of your most-reached-for products!

Available online here.

Do you have a BB cream that you love?

Angelica