Impressive Bargain Beauty

I've come to the realisation that I am a student. And as much as it pains me to say it, I can't always afford to buy beauty from the higher end of the spectrum. *sigh*. I have also come to realise that it costs a lot of money to be clean! Goodbye £44.50, I hope Superdrug treats you well.

But in terms of saving the pennies on cheaper beauty brands, that's OK! Because here in the UK we have amazing beauty products from the drugstore that are fantastic dupes for some of the luxury products on the market.

Sleek is a brand that I have never shown too much interest in and I am not entirely sure why. For a drugstore brand, Sleek have an impressive colour palette, which is a significant quality to have in the beauty industry. Furthermore, the product range is great and almost everyone has a good thing to say about it. Especially with regards to the eyeshadow, blush and contour palettes. As someone who loves a bit of contour, the latter appealed to me and I decided to purchase the Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette in Medium - £9.99. 

I am so impressed with this in more ways than one. Firstly, the packaging is 'sleek', efficient and petite enough to carry around in your bag and most importantly contains a huge mirror. 

Secondly, the content of the palette is extremely impressive. It comes with a matte sculpting shade, a luminous highlighter and a 'bronzey' shimmery blush shade. I am yet to try the blush, but the blend ability of the contour powder was lovely and the highlighter added a subtle luminosity to my cheeks. Both powder's complimented my tanned skin-tone beautifully. I think my mum may be receiving the Light version in her stocking this year.

It is safe to say that my contour was on point last night for the fireworks!

The second product that managed to weave it's way into my basket was the Matte Me - Ultra Smooth Matte Lip Cream in Fandango Purple - £4.99. The fact that it is a liquid lipstick may have had something to do with it.

I am completely obsessed with the colour of this product. This fuchsia purple is so pretty and complimentary. Pinky tones almost always never suit me, but I have finally found one that does. 

Starting with the Negative Nancy verdict, the only major downfall about the Matte Me lip creams is the applicator. It made it quite difficult and uncomfortable to apply because it has a lack of softness. Furthermore, it has a rather odd and unnecessarily long shape.

I didn't find the formula of the product too drying. I could feel it slightly after the application but it wasn't a significant amount. Additionally, I found the staying power to be pretty damn good, but I did have to top up once throughout the night. But in the grand scheme of things, that is not a huge burden. I find myself doing that with almost every lip product that I use. And you cannot argue with £4.99!

Here is a cheeky selfie of me with my new purchases on:

See what I mean about the colour?

Is there anything that you are loving from Sleek at the moment that I may want to know about?

The Estée Lauder Haul

Welcome to my first Estée Lauder Haul and a very image heavy post!

It has been a long time coming but i've finally purchased Estée Lauder's Double Wear foundation, and conveniently from Boots as you have got to keep wracking up those points! Christmas is very much just around the corner after all.

I've never purchased anything from Estée Lauder before and the service was wonderful. It's always nice to hear that you have lovely skin and that the foundation and lipstick looks gorgeous on you. It makes it much easier to hand over your cash and say to yourself 'Go on then, take my money.' I was also given a very generous gift bag at the check out as a reward for spending. *Happy dance*

When it comes to Winter beauty I think, flawless base and dark bold lips. And I think that I've hit the nail on the head with these two.

Here's the haul:

1. Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Make Up SPF 10 in Cashew 

This product definitely does what it says on the tin. Stays-in-place! I almost have to do a triple cleanse to make sure that my face is free of it at the end of the day. Regardless of the effort you have to put in to take it off, it's a fabulous product. Initially, I was reluctant to buy this because of how full coverage it is. I'm not into the whole cake face thing, or even worse feeling like your base is wearing you. But I have been pleasantly surprised and so far, so good. 

2. Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick Matte in Desirous

The launch of these lipsticks have sparked a lot of joy for me. I've always known that Estée Lauder have some of the best skincare on the market and some great make-up products. But I've also had the impression that their target market is aimed more towards the mature side. Until the gorgeous Kendall Jenner became the new face and they came out with these beautiful matte lipsticks. I think that I could happily spend a lot of money on all of them. The shade Desirous is my new favourite Autumn/Winter shade. The sales advisor on the counter at Boots claimed that these lipstick's don't require a lip liner. Because Desirous is an extremely dark shade, I prefer to pair it with a lip liner but there is a substantial amount of staying power there and The Pure Color Envy's are an extremely comfortable wear. 

My purchases were rewarded with a gift bag filled with cute little miniatures, decent sized samples and a lipstick:

1. Take It Away Make-up Remover Lotion
2. Daywear (Love) 
3. Modern Muse Perfume
4. Doublewear Foundation
5. Advanced Night Repair
6. Pure Color Lasting Lipstick CREME 17 Rose Tea

Best gift bag ever!

I can't wait to experiment with all the goodies. Do you have any Estée Lauder favourites?

New In For The Lips

I won a giveaway, I never win anything! 

The lovely beauty blogger Stacey from Expat Make-up Addict held a giveaway a few weeks ago and I won six MAC lipsticks of my choice. Yes, of my choice! Of course I was jumping for joy and ridiculously excited. But when it came down to choosing, I found it quite overwhelming. There is so much choice at MAC and I found myself wanting to indulge in way more than six. However, after much deliberation I finally came to my decision, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Just as my boyfriend said 'Ella, you don't need anymore lipsticks', these babies came in the mail. 

L-R: Stone Matte, Blankety Amplified , Ruby Woo Retro Matte , Morange Amplified, Coral Bliss Cremesheen and Mehr Matte.

Here goes the breakdown:

Stone is a medium-dark taupe brown with greyish undertones. When I first applied this I was quite shocked, but it grew on me. The shade is unusual and quirky which I quite like. It has a matte finish but doesn't cling to any dryness which is always admirable. Although as with all MAC Matte lipsticks, I wouldn't brand the finish moisturising. I can't wait to wear this one throughout the fall back in the UK. 

Blankety, a beautifully creamy slap and dash pinky nude lip colour that will go with any make-up look. I have a thing for lip products that don't need much effort to apply and that you can wear everyday. Plus, it looks good with my tanned skin tone. Winning.

Ruby Woo is a best seller from MAC and a product that has been on my wish list for yonks. I think that this has to be the most talked about red that I have ever come across. Spread across the celebrity and social media world, this is hands down a red for everyone. Ruby Woo is extremely matte and highly pigmented. I honestly feel as though I have many lipsticks more or less the same shade. But who cares, this is definitely a new favourite of mine.

Morange is such a feel good lipstick. Vibrant, striking and oozes confidence. The colour is immensley opaque and I love it so much that I will be inappropriately wearing it throughout the winter. 

Like Blankety, Coral Bliss is a slap and dash shade. I found it to be quite moisturising on the lips and is one for my 'no make-up, make-up' days. I also have a thing for corals these days and I find the sheen of this product to be very flattering.

Mehr has yet another matte finish. (If you haven't already noticed, i'm a matte kind of gal). Lily Pebbles wears this all of the time in her vlogs paired with MAC lip liner in Soar. I was drawn to the dusky pink shade and it looked very easy wearing. 

To say that i'm happy with my choices would be an understatement. I have adopted a few new favourites as well as pushed the boundaries and started wearing a colour that I wouldn't usually go for.

Which lipsticks are you loving at the moment?

The Mini Gerard Cosmetics Haul

After a long wait, I've finally gotten my hands on a couple of lippys from Gerard Cosmetics. (Note to self: Order from Beauty Bay next time.) I went for Jaclyn Hill's 1995 and Sophia Chang from Fashionista804's Kimchi Doll. Surprise, Surprise. I went for the nudes. At first I didn't think that I would be a fan of the gold packaging, but I am. They don't look or feel at all cheap and create a nice contrast amongst my MAC lipsticks on the top of my rather boring desk. That's a good excuse isn't it? Buy more lipsticks, it will make your desk look prettier!

1995 is my favourite of the two. It has a matte finish, but is creamy and comfortable. And quite frankly, one of the best browny nudes i've ever tried. It's what I like to call a nude for everyone. Gorgeous on both pale and darker skin tones. I find it quite difficult to find a nude that suits my tanned skin without it looking like i've lathered on the concealer. I wore 1995 for the first time after my last exam this year where there was quite a lot of drinking throughout the day and it stayed on! The lasting power is definitely there.

Lip Liner: MAC Whirl

Kimchi Doll is a cute, pink and peachy nude and like 1995, is creamy and wonderful. It's a bit on the pale side, so people like me with darker skin tones are better off wearing a lip liner underneath it in a shade darker. Nevertheless, I'm a fan and can't wait to wear it throughout the summer.

Lip Liner: MAC Spice

The price point is spot on at £11.50 each and I love the formulation of them. I find them extremely comparable to MAC in terms of quality and comfort, but not so much shade selection.

Comfortable, affordable and lovely.

Have you tried Gerard Cosmetics yet?

In The Nude This Spring/Summer

I never realise how much I have of something until I either have a gander into my make up collection or go to photograph things for a blog post. So when I was choosing which products to include and photograph it was then that I realised how many nude lipsticks or glosses I actually have. I like to think of myself as a bit of a nude hoarder. They're a safe buy and worth the money as nude shades are more often than not my go to lip colour, especially in the day time. There's something about wearing a bold block colour in the day time that makes me feel a little uneasy. I always think, 'is the colour bleeding' or 'has the colour rubbed off'. But don't get me wrong, on a night out I love wearing a statement lip.

The nudes i'm loving:

1. Marc Jacobs New Nudes Sheer Gel in Moody Margot - I've spoken about this two or three posts ago. It's a new addition to my lip collection and i'm really enjoying wearing it. I love the sheer simplicity of it.

2. Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 02 - It's no secret that i'm a huge fan of the formula when it comes to these Cream Lip Stains. They leave you with a matte finish that is extremely long lasting, but not at all drying. The shade 02 is a muted peachy brown nude.

3. Maybelline Color Drama Lipstick in Nude Perfection - Peachy, cheap, cheerful and an overall slap and dash product.

4. MAC Velvet Teddy - It's difficult to find a nude lip colour that suits all skin types. MAC's famous Matte lipstick 'Velvet Teddy' is one for all complexions.

5. MAC Spice Lip Pencil  - This '90's lip pencil looks great paired with Velvet Teddy or all over the lips on its own. Whatever takes your fancy.

My style and go to make up looks are always changing, but my instinctive reach for a nude on a daily basis will always stay the same. Is that boring?

What are your go to lip products this Spring/Summer?