Beauty Bucket List: five

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

My Top 5 | Blushes

I'm a blush girl, I love how a different blush can completely change up your look. It can be subtle and compliment your makeup or it can be bold and give the makeup a new dimension. I decided to share with you my favourite five blushes that I wear a lot. Apart from one limited edition blush, all the others are still available. Four of them are matte and one is shimmer.

1. Sleek Squash
Sleek Squash is the bright pink blush in the Sleek Blush by 3 Palette in Pumpkin which I reviewed here. It's a bright pink matte powder blush. As you can see by the swatch, this is the brightest blush and it is possibly the brightest powder blush I own. I love wearing this in summer as it gives a lovely pop of colour on the cheeks. You can layer this for an intense look, or only use a bit and blend it into the skin for a more subtle look. I love that I can achieve two different looks with this blush depending on how I apply it. This is slightly harder to work with than the other blushes (which are all high end) but the pigmentation is one of the best, and it lasts for ages too.

2. Illamasqua Katie
I already reviewed this blush here, I love this blush and would say it is possibly the favourite blush I own. I can already feel a bit dent in it, and am worried I will run out soon :(. It's a pale pink which really compliments my pale skin and adds a very subtle glow to my cheeks. I'd say it has the best formula of the bunch, it is incredible soft and very easy to apply and blend into the cheeks. It isn't powdery at all and lasts all day.

3. Nars Oasis
I've already reviewed this blush in more detail here. This is the only shimmer blush pictured. I actually prefer how shimmery blushes look, but as I often wear shimmery eyeshadows, it would be a bit overkill to wear shimmer on the cheeks. This is the darkest blush out of the five, it is described as a 'sparkling pink champagne'. It leans more brown than pink on my skin as I'm fair. This is less subtle on my skin as it is quite a bit darker, but it blends it well and I love wearing this on a night out. As with all Nars blushes, the pigmentation is great and the wear time is superb.

4. MAC Immortal Flower
This is the only limited edition blush of the collection. I didn't want to include it as it was limited edition, but as I wear this one so much, I figured it'd be silly not to include it. This is a peachy-orangey shade. It is a pale shade, and if you have tanned skin you won't be able to wear this. In fact, without lots of layering I would only recommend this to people with light-light medium skin. I love the way this blush compliments my bronzer and gives me more colour in summer. The formula is really nice and easy to blend into the skin.

5. Stila Convertible Colour in Gerbera
I already reviewed this here. Although I have dry skin, I tend to prefer powder blushes than cream blushes as I find they last longer. However, this blush is the exception. It stays on my skin for ages and blends into it seamlessly. As it's a cream formula it's not powdery or cakey at all. It is also very easy to apply and you can apply with your fingers or a brush. I love the colour of this, it's noticeable without being too in-your-face.

Those are my top five blushes in my collection that I wear regularly. Are any of these your favourite blushes too? What your top 5 blushes? Let me know in the comments!

Monday, 22 July 2013

My Top 5 MAC Lipsticks | Summer

I love bright lipstick. One of the things I love most about summer is the chance to wear those bright pink colours along with the corals and subtle nudes. My favourite brand for lipsticks has always been MAC, I love the huge choice of colour they have, you are sure to find something you like. There are certain lipsticks I go back to time and time again, which I've decided to share with you all.

1. MAC 'To Catch a Sailor'

One of my favourite lipsticks for summer is this golden-tan colour from the MAC 'Hey Sailor!' collection last summer. I always love the look of tan lipsticks on people, but being so pale, I often find that they don't look right on me. However, this lipstick suits my pale complexion and makes me look a bit more bronzed in the summer months.

It's a frost finish which means there is shimmer on the lips, but this is subtle and does not look over the top. As it is a frost it can be a little more on the dry side so it is recommended to moisturize your lips well before using it, or to add a gloss over the top.

I love the lipstick with a bit of bronzer and loose wavy hair on a sunny day.

2. MAC 'Angel'

MAC 'Angel' is a well known lipstick shade. It's a light pink shade that is known for being one of Kim K's favourite shades. It's the sort of shade that looks good one everyone, regardless of skin colour/tone.

On me, the shade is lighter than my actual lip colour so appears a light pink. However, on people with lighter lip colours than me, it appears as a more netural pink colour. This colour is really nice for wearing natural and no-makeup makeup as the colour isn't too far away from the average lip colour. I especially like this colour when wearing very dramatic eyes, e.g. smokey eyes.

I love this lipstick for summer as I prefer to wear more natural looking makeup in the summer time and this helps me achieve that. It looks really nice with a light pink lipgloss added over the top too.

3. MAC 'Girl About Town'

MAC 'Girl About Town' is the least summery of all of the shades I've picked, but I still like to wear it in summer. It's good for those days in August where even though its summer and the sun should be shining, it's pouring it down with rain. It looks more summery than red and maroons, but still isn't so summery that it looks out of place. I also love to wear on a warm day with a pale pink lipgloss. This lightens the colour a bit and makes it more summmery.

The lipstick is an amplified finish, and is very pigmented as you can see by the swatch. The lasting power on this lipstick is very good as well, it last for ages due to its high pigmentation.

4. MAC 'Naughty Saute'

Naughty Saute (don't you just love MAC lipstick names?) is a very bright pink. Think in your face bright pink that you can notice from a mile off. Well not quite, but Naughty Saute is almost at that level. It's a very bright light-ish pink. To me, this is such a summer colour the bright pink looks great with pink cheeks and minimal eye makeup.

I often find that the pink is a bit bright to wear on its own so often tone it down with a slightly lighter lipgloss, keeping the very bright pink colour but making it a bit more wearable.Also, it's a blue based pink, which means it won't make your teeth look slightly yellow as I know some bright pink lipsticks have a habit of doing it.

It's a cremesheen formula which is one of my favourite mac lipstick formulas as they are more moisturising, which is good for such a bright lipstick. It glides on and leaves a quite a glossy finish. The wear time on this is also good about 3-4 hours depending on if you are eating/drinking.

5. MAC 'Watch me Simmer'

This last lipstick is my favourite of the bunch, and I think you can tell by the slightly deformed shape of the lipstick, the one I wear the most.

Watch me Simmer is a bright coral red which looks nice with just about anything. I really love how this looks with all my summer clothes. It also compliments a lot of summer makeup. For example, I've worn this with a very bronzed smokey eye with heavy contouring and its looked great. It's also looked good with more simple eye makeup and just a hint of blusher on my cheeks. It's a very versatile shade.

It's an amplified formula which means it is highly pigmented, this means you will be able to get the shade in the lipstick on your lips. I find it to be a very moisturising lipstick and don't find it dries out my lips at all. This will be the main lipstick I am wearing all summer for sure.

These are my top 5 favourite MAC lipsticks to wear in the summer, let me know what lipsticks you will be rocking in the summer months in the comments below!