My Top Lipsticks For Summer: Brights

Considering we're now almost half way through the month of May, I have well and truly got my 'must prepare for summer' frame of mind in place and am making all the changes from the colours in my wardrobe, to my footwear choices, to my daily make up picks, to even my breakfast decisions! - You can't eat porridge on a warm morning, it's just wrong.

As soon as the sun decides to come out and play from behind that big old black cloud then there is a handful of lip products that I know I will be gravitating towards with no doubt about it. You might sense a little bit of a theme with this post about what my favourite lip colours are, but here are my top picks for summer lips: 

 (I definitely did not originally spell 'Vegas Volt' wrong and have to correct it....)

MAC
Vegas Volt

My Mac lipstick collection is far from huge, but out of a small range of choices Vegas Volt easily comes out on top as my favourite shade. It's an amplied finish lipstick which means that the colour pay off really packs a punch with an opaquely pigmented shade but a creamy soft and long lasting formula. It's a lovely strong coral shade that can really perk up your day.

Topshop

All About Me

All About Me is a moisturising matte lipstick which again means that there's a strong colour pay off that's going to last all day - that's exactly what you need on a hot and humid day, you don't want pink waxy stuff smearing all around your mouth do you? All About Me is a gorgeously bright hot pink shade with blue undertones to really bring out the pink-ness in it. It's love.

Fire Cracker

Firecracker might actually be not so much of a practical choice, based on what I just said above about a lipstick having the ability to melt off your face as this is a moisturising velvet finish which means it's a lot more creamy, i.e. more slippy and slidey! But, there's no denying that the shade is absolutely to die for. It's an extremely bright red with strong orange hues that makes a huge statement and is a nice alternative to a classic pure red.

Rimmel
Kate Moss Lasting Perfect - Shade 20

Hey hot pink lips. You're my favourite. You can never have too many shades of hot pink lipsticks! I think I would go as far as to say that this is my favourite lipstick that I own. It's very similar to All About Me but it leans a tad more purpley and it is the most flattering shade of bright pink that I have ever seen. 

Kate Moss Matte Finish - Shade 110

More orange?! This is another coral shade but it has a bit more of a red base to it than any of the other coral shades that I own, and for such a bright colour I think that this is one of the easiest ones to wear and is definitely one of my most worn lipsticks, ever. Also the semi-matte finish of it means that it stands the test of time, even in the hottest weather.

Okay, so the running theme of this was post was that I love hot pink and bright coral lipsticks. I hope that you enjoyed my top 5 choices for summer lip products!
Which is your favourite?


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New: Rimmel 'Apocalips' Lip Lacquers

Rimmel Apocalips The Hype

Released into Boots and Superdrugs stores nationwide on January 23rd, and via Rimmel's Facebook store a few days earlier, the 'Apocalips' took the beauty world by storm and are set to be a cosmetic highlight of 2013. With another quirky play-on-words name (I'm still impressed with the name for 'Scandaleyes' eyeliners) and unique packaging that takes them a step above standard lip product tubes, these bad boys deserve the attention they're getting. You'll be able to find rave reviews of these all over the Internet already, but hey why not add one more to the pile?

Rimmel Apocalips What Are They?

Dubbed as the high street answer to YSL's Glossy Stain, these 'lip lacquers' pack 3 different lip products into one handy tube; think lipgloss, lipstick and lipstain all in one and there you have 'Apocalips'. Say 'lip' one more time. Available from Boots and Superdrug, priced at £5.99 each (look out for 3 for 2 deals) these offer a high impact, opaque coverage of the lip in just one stroke, and they are applied to the lip using a doe-foot applicator that contains a little well for extra product so that there's no dipping back into the tube to go back for more. With each of these, when applied to the lip the coverage is so high and there's no denying that they are completely opaque, they feel lovely on the lips with a high shine finish but absolutely no stickiness. No wonder there's a hype! After a few hours when the glossiness has worn away these leave a matte stain of strong colour on the lips that lasts for hours and hours - brilliant for nights out.

Rimmel Apocalips The Shades

There is quite a vast shade range in this collection, with a total of 8 different shades ranging from what has been described by others as 'the most perfect nude', to gentle berry plums, to the bright and bold pink shades, all the way to a statement classic red. It looks like Rimmel have covered everything! I picked up four of the eight available shades and I am very happy with my choices, although there is one more that I would get if I was ever to go on another crazy lip product purchasing spree (Celestial, please). Big Bang can only be described as a 'true red', there's no other colour pigment in this one other than red, red and more red. It's very bold and very classic but unfortunately I've not found the perfect situation to be wearing this yet so this one has had the least use. Apocaliptic and Stellar can look quite similar in some lights, but there is a difference between them. Apocaliptic is a bright pink fuchsia, whereas Stellar has a lot more of a coral/orange base to it. Both of these are incredibly vibrant and I absolutely adore the brightness of these two shades - I've found both of them to be perfect for nights out. Nova is a little bit more muted than the rest and is one that I found a lot of time for in my every day make-up - it's been my every day colour of choice for a few weeks now. It's a dusky mauve shade and is incredibly wearable, being bright but not too 'in your face'. 

Swatches L-R: Big Bang, Apocaliptic, Stellar, Nova.

If there's any confusion with the swatches above, silly me swatched the shades in the wrong order from how I showed them pictured at the start of the post; the two middle shades, Apocaliptic and Stellar, are the opposite way around in the different pictures. To clarify, Stellar is the coraly one, and Apocaliptic is the bright pink.

Rimmel Apocalips My Thoughts and Views

This is not a 'first impressions' post/review; as much as I wanted to bash out a post about these on the day of their release and the day that I got my mitts on them, I instead chose to wait a few weeks to give these a thorough trial in different circumstances so that my review could be well rounded and informative. My first impressions were that I was not blown away, and my current opinion stands the same. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate them and I do use them (usage of the different shades varies), plus I think that the price is fair and it's worth having one in your collection, I just do think that there's a down side that I can't get around. Negative point out of the way first: these are so incredibly drying on the lips after after a few hours and seriously lack in moisture. If Rimmel finds a way to add in a lip balm quality to these then we have an unbeatable product. One more thing, is that I find the applicator to sometimes transfer a little too much product onto the lips, so I often apply using the opposite side of the applicator from the 'well' of product, but that's no big deal really.

Aside from that point, I have nothing but praise for these. I absolutely love love love the shades, they're spot on and I adore the bright ones, in particular Stellar, and I love the really intense pop of colour that they give to a look and how they're so long lasting. I'm not one for lipgloss, but these are the perfect answer and they have got it all right. They're a bit of a novelty with a unique applicator for a 'lipstick', but they're worth trying out if you haven't already. Depending on which shade you pick up they can be absolutely ideal for both a night out and for every day wear.

If you've tried these, what do you think?

And what's your favourite shade?

NOTD: Christmas Nails #2 | Rimmel Precious Stones (Diamond Dust)

Christmas Nails #2

Rimmel Precious Stones - Diamond Dust

RRP: £3.99

 

Happy 12th December ladies - 12.12.12 the last repeating date of our lifetime! I'm only mentioning this because it has amused me how wild Twitter went at 12.12pm this afternoon and all the screenshot pictures that went up of the date and time saying 12:12 12.12.12! Easily amused, aren't we all. But dates aside, today I am bringing you some more glitter nails. Yes, more.

 

This is the second of two nail varnishes in a new collection from Rimmel; the Precious Stones range. The other shade is a glitter red varnish called 'Ruby Crush' which you can see in my Christmas Nails #1 post: here. Ruby Crush is an opaque red glitter with larger pieces of silver glitter within it, whereas Diamond Dust is a less opaque, but still high coverage, grey/silver glitter with larger holographic pieces in. Diamond Dust took three coats to achieve the look shown above (which makes me dread the day I need to take it off!) and it has a very gritty finish to it, which is nothing that a top coat can't solve.

 

I love the contasting effect given by the more matte grey/silver glitter in comparison to the highly eye-catching holographic particles suspended within it. This nail varnish is so cheap, retailling at just £3.99 and creates such a beautiful festive look! I also love the really wide brushes on Rimmel polishes that offer quick and easy application, coating the whole nail in just one stroke, and also how quickly these dry - there is no hanging around with tacky nails for up to an hour like with some glitter varnishes; it's literally minutes until it's dry as a bone and you're good to go!

 

I would highly recommend Rimmel Precious Stones - 001 Diamond Dust to anybody!

 

♥

See also: Christmas Nails #1

NOTD: Christmas Nails #1 | Rimmel Precious Stones (Ruby Crush)

Christmas Nails #1

Rimmel Precious Stones - Ruby Crush

RRP: £3.99
 

Hello lovely ladies! Are you all as excited for Christmas as I am? Just 17 sleeps to go.

 

I've been stocking up on my glitter varnishes ready to add a bit of glitz and glamour to my nails for the party season ahead, and two of Rimmel's new releases have joined my collection. Rimmel's Precious Stones collection consists of just two shades: a silver (diamond dust) and a red (ruby crush). This red shade is a super sparkly opaque red glitter with a few chunkier silver particles thrown in the mix for a bit of added dimension. It's really high coverage with just two coats needed to completely cover the nail and it dries incredibly quickly. Very eye catching and perfect for Christmas.

I'd really like to excuse my nails at the moment.. I feel like they look disgusting! I've lost misplaced my cuticle oil that I usually use so now my cuticles are all dry and ugly - ew! I love Christmas but I hate winter ..the cold weather does nothing for my skin!

Plus, this nail varnish chips like a bitch. I'd been wearing this for less than 18 hours when I took these photographs and there's already more than a few noticable chips - not great. Still pretty though.

♥

 



I've Fallen Back In Love With.. Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

 

In the summer just gone, Rimmel’s new foundation without a doubt took the beauty world by storm; flying off drugstore shelves and converting long-term lovers of high end foundation to the wonders of high street brands at a fraction of the cost. Retailing at around £8.99 when first released I hopped on the bandwagon and picked myself up a bottle of this in the shade 303 True Nude to match my tanned summer skin. When the summer tan faded away and left me pale as snow this foundation was reluctantly pushed to the back of a drawer, no longer matching my fair skin. Recently, I’ve been reaching for the fake tan to make myself a look a little more human and little less like Casper the friendly ghost so had to dig out a darker foundation in order to match up and welcomed the rekindled love of Rimmel’s Wake Me Up.

 

Don’t you just love it when you rediscover something that you used to love and question yourself about how you ever thought you’d found an appropriate replacement for it? What was I thinking purchasing a £20+ bottle of Clinique foundation in the lightest shade available to take the place of Wake Me Up when I could have just as easily run to Boots and spent less than a tenner on a lighter shade of Wake Me Up for the same high quality. Sucker. I don’t feel like this about all drugstore foundations though, or even the other foundations in Rimmel’s line; Wake Me Up is a bit of an exception.

 

This foundation offers medium coverage easily buildable to full coverage without looking at all cakey and it has that ever so slight hint of shimmer to give that real ‘wake up’ and brightening look to the skin. We all have those days where we get up and our skin just doesn't look it's greatest; a little on the dull side and looking for a well needed boost ..then all you'll need as a solution is a pump or two of this buffed in and all your glowing radiance will be restored! I absolutely love this foundation for daily wear and for the price (currently on offer for £5.99) the quality is exceptional.

 

A definite repurchase and set to be a long term favourite!

What do you think of Rimmel Wake Me Up?

♥

Clinique Bonus Time & Beauty Haul

 

Ummm.. I went shopping. Again. SOMEBODY RESTRAIN ME.

My shopping addict hardly ever involves clothes and never really has; I have too basic of a fashion sense to ever have an obsession with buying new clothes, but what I do get carried away with is buying myself new products and cosmetics ..hence the appropriate blog name of 'Cosmetic Crave'. Unfortunately for my bank balance and my ever failing will power I do need to walk through the town centre of Preston to get to and from university and my house, and last Wednesday afternoon when I had some free time I managed to stray from my usual direct 'head down - don't even look in the windows' route home to a more 'Oooh Debenhams, ooo Lush, ooo Boots, ooo The Body Shop' route home instead!!

 

In my defence, all purchases are justified because I got lot's of things for free. Yep, free things make spending lots perfectly alright. Clinique are currently running their 'Bonus Time' which I only found out about because of my friend - I didn't receive any promotional e-mails, etc about this like I am usually bombarded with, Boots are running a '3 for 2' offer, and I had a voucher on the bottom of receipt for The Body Shop of '£10 off when spending £25' ..all of these offers I had available to me definitely warrented a little shopping spree.

It took me a very long time to get text onto my picture and I ended up distorting the quality too (editing novice!) - What do people normally use to edit text onto an image and keep the quality?

Here is what I picked up from Clinique @ Debenhams with my sights set on a free gift bag. The contents of the gift bag total £90 and it is received on purchase of two items with one being skincare or when spending over £45 on make-up alone. I treated myself to their 'Even Better' foundation not that long ago and loved it to death so repurchased. Even Better is a high coverage foundation for all skin types and costs £23 for 30ml which is reasonable priced for the exceptional quality. To qualify for the free gift I needed for spend another £22 on make-up or get a skin care product and after much consultation with a sales assistant I ended up with a £17 bottle of toner from their anti-blemish solutions range which I am looking forward to trying out. Spending £40 on two items and receiving 7 good quality high end items for free seems reasonable to me, especially as the foundation is something I would have bought regardless if the 'Bonus Time' offer was on or not.

I just know that with a dispenser like this I'll spill this everywhere!

The free gift is made up of: 1) a make-up bag, 2) 50ml Liquid Facial Mild Soap from the three step range, 3) 50ml Take The Day Off make-up remover solution, 4) 7ml All About Eyes eye cream, 5) 3.5ml High Impact mascara, 6) Chubby Stick in 04 Mega Melon, 7) Blush Powder in 07 Sunset Glow. Have you been and taken advantage of this offer yet?

 

Next I went to Boots to take advantage of their '3 for 2' offer on all make-up, beauty and hair products at the moment. I knew that I wanted the Core Collection of the Real Techniques brushes and also wanted the Stippling Brush too but unfortunately it wasn't stocked in my local Boots. The Core Collection cost £21.99 and without the Stippling Brush available I was at a bit of a loss of what else to get! In the end I got another Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick as I think they're amazing and they cost less than a fiver. I got it in a classic bright red shade (164 Tantrum). My third product and the freebie of the bunch was one of Rimmel's newly released products: Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in 005 Nude (normally £3.99).

 



 

Finnnaaallllyyyyyy.. Sorry this post is so long! I'll keep it brief with what I got from The Body Shop but I love making a healthy saving when shopping - this should have totalled £26 but I paid £9.40 - Kerching! I had a voucher on the bottom of a previous receipt '£10 off when spending £25' so that knocked the total down to £16 straight away, and then I have a 'Love Your Body' Card which gives you 10% off everything you buy, giving me a £1.60 discount ontop of that and the LYB also gives you a gift of £5 off one transaction during your birthday month (it isn't actually this month but the silly lady wrote '10' instead of '11' when I told her November so I had to claim it this month instead), so that took it down to £9.40 - Wow. When all I really wanted was the Mango Body Mist which costs £7.50 alone it was worth spending an extra £1.90 for a bundle of extra stuff.

 

Camomile Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover £3.00 | Cocoa Butter Hand & Body Lotion £3.00 | Mango Body Mist £7.50 | Cucumber Freshening Water (Toner) £2.00 | Mango Lip Butter £4.00 | Papaya Body Butter £13.00 £6.50.

 

 Ten points to the first person who can spot the difference between the two pictures below!

Well done if you spotted it. The difference was one contains a Witch BB Cream and the other doesn't. If it helps I didn't actually buy this I won it in a giveaway and postie dropped it off while I was in the middle of snapping away so I threw that in the picture too.

 

If you see me posting any more beauty buys between now and the end of November no matter what you must never, ever read my blog again in protest of my silly ways because I DO NOT need anything else for a long time. When my boyfriend saw my tweet about how much I'd just spent he actually text me and told me I needed to take it all back or I won't be able to afford food for the rest of the year.. but thankfully for me cosmetics can't be returned in this country due to hygiene rules.. Sooo looks like I'm keeping it all! Tehe.

 

And don't forget that I am currently running a celebratory 200 followers GIVEAWAY that ends at the end of this month.

Enter now if you haven't already!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN

♥