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Sephora Cream Lip Stain 01 Always Red | Review and Swatches






















If you read Amelia’s, Lily’s or Anna’s blogs, then you’ve probably heard of the product in the title of this post. I have to admit that when those three mention a product, my ears definitely perk up and I immediately want to try it. So after they all couldn’t stop talking about a certain lip product, this was the first product I had to pick up when I was in Sephora in Paris.

The infamous Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 01 Always Red is a liquid lipstick that dries to a matte finish. Now this is a bright red, not for the faint-hearted. It’s not a blue-toned red, but I wouldn’t say that it is overly orange-toned either – it sits somewhere in the middle giving us a nice neutral hot red. As a bold (and red) lip lover, I was so drawn in by this colour when I saw it. It applies like a typical liquid lipstick – very creamy and somewhat shiny, but it doesn’t take long for it to dry down to a completely matte finish. What is also great is that you can layer this product without the product glooping on the lips (I’m looking at you Hourglass Opaque Rogue). However, it is the wear of this product that really makes it stand out for me. It is definitely not drying, which is a quality that has become somewhat associated with both matte liquid lipsticks and lip stains. It is also incredibly long-lasting and even lasts through meals (however if the meal is oil-based then it may break down the lipstick, but that is to be expected). I would say this one of the best lip products I own in terms of longevity, and it is safe to say, I am in love. 

If you live in a country where Sephora is readily available then you have to check this out. I cannot rave about this product enough, and I would even go so far as to say that is one of the best lip products I have ever tried. And don’t worry UK folk, because Sephora ships to us poor makeup-deprived souls. Have you tried any of these out? It’s safe to say I need more of these in my life…
–RachelElizabeth

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Formula 10.0.6 Deep Down Detox Ultra-Cleansing Mud Mask | Review

























 I apologise for starting another post like this, but I picked up my fair share of beauty products on my recent birthday day trip to Paris. Heading to the pharmacy, I was a little overwhelmed with this huge store filled to the brim with amazing skincare. My eyes were immediately drawn to the brand Formula 10.0.6, as their packaging is so bright yet so simple with the striking bold text taking up most of the product. Intrigued, I browsed all the products they had on display, and amongst the many masks they had on offer, I decided on the one targeted towards blemishes…


After a little research I realised that this brand is also widely available in the U.S., Canada and Austrailia (sadly not the UK) and the Deep Down Ultra-Cleansing Mud Mask is available at Ulta here. This mask in particular, as the name would suggest, is ultimately supposed to deeply cleanse your skin and aid your skin towards a clearer complexion. It contains orange and bergamot, and it definitely has a strong orange scent, which is definitely something to take into consideration. In terms of texture, it is your standard mud mask. It is a pale peach shade and dries on your skin much like a typical clay/mud mask. As the packaging suggests, you leave it on for 15 minutes, which is about the time it takes to dry and then I rinse it off with a flannel. 

In terms of results, I wouldn’t say they were miraculous, but I don’t think I can say that about any mask I’ve tried. I will say that it seemed to help calm my active blemishes and made them go away a lot quicker than they normally would. It didn’t break me out, which, I have to admit, the scent did lead me to think that it may. For an affordable mask, I would say that this an excellent mask for those with blemish prone skin as it did seem to help clear mine up. Have you heard of/tried anything from this brand before? I’d love to try more.

–RachelElizabeth
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Laura Mercier Lip Transformer Trio in Ruby Spark | Review and Swatches

So we’ve reached the time of year where gift sets are coming out in abundance. Whether you’re in the market for buying some christmas presents, or you want to try some new products out for yourself, these gifts are great value for money. My mum knows I love Laura Mercier, and in the past she has treated my with some of the body product gift sets which I have adored. For my birthday this year, she surprised with me with this lip product set, and as soon as I saw it was all about the red lip, I was very excited…

The Lip Transformer Trio in Ruby Spark contains three products: a mini Lip Pencil in Ruby, a mini Crème Smooth Lip Colour in Red Amour and a full size Lip Glacé in Ruby Spark. Let’s begin with the lip pencil. It is a deep neutral red, which is a great autumnal shade. It is incredibly creamy to apply, making it really easy to fill to whole lips in without dragging or drying out the lips. The Crème Smooth Lip Colour was also a hit for me – like the name suggests it was creamy and a dream to apply. It has good but not 100% opaque pigmentation, which I think is really nice for a more nourishing formula. In terms of the colour, its your classic blue-toned teeth-whitening red which is perfect. And surprise surprise, the Lip Glacé is also a hit. This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered this formula – I got a mini version in a set last year. And I have to say this is a really nice formula – it has decent pigmentation, but what I love most about it is that its not sticky. That’s probably the main reason I don’t often wear lip gloss, so when I find one that’s not, I get very excited. 
























Above I have used all three products on my lips to show you the whole lip look! If you, or a loved one, is a big red lip fanatic, then this is definitely worth considering. What’s great about this set is that you can choose a matte, satin or glossy red lip, giving you all you could need to perfect your look. And let’s be honest, I don’t think anyone would complain receiving something from Laura Mercier…

–RachelElizabeth
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Manicure Monday #24 | Formula X Brain Power

As you may know, I recently went on a day trip to paris (read all about it here) and of course, that included a trip to Sephora. I was mainly on the hunt for brands that we can’t get hold of in the UK, and it is safe to say I was stood staring at the Formula X stand for quite some time. After a lot of liberation, I finally chose a shade, something more neutral, to fill a gap in my nail polish collection…

Brain Power is described as a ‘cappuccino tan’. I picked it up because it looked like the perfect camel shade, and after recently finally getting my hands on a camel coloured coat, I am really falling for the shade. On my skin, it is much darker than a nude, but I can see this being perfect for medium skin tones. Personally I think the slightly darker tone adds a little extra interest to your standard nude, whilst staying neutral enough that you can wear it on any occasion. 

Now after hearing so much about these polishes on YouTube, I had high hopes for the formula. I have to say that it really is lovely. It was opaque in two coats, smooth, glossy and had very impressive wear time. The only downside is that we can’t currently get hold of these in the UK as you can’t get them shipped from Sephora. So if you ever happen to be in a Sephora, you definitely should go and have a browse.  






















-RachelElizabeth
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Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Lost Cherry | Review and Swatches
























 We can’t deny that matte lipsticks are all the rage right now. Every brand seems to be releasing their own take on this trend right now, and Charlotte Tilbury was no exception. The gorgeous Matte Revolution lipsticks have been all over every bloggers Instagrams and I have been lusting over every shade. I never got around to picking one up for myself, but my lovely sister surprised with one for my birthday and it is safe to say that I was beyond excited to wear this shade.

Lost Cherry is a bright yellow-toned pink. I don’t know whether it is my colouring or my taste in lipsticks, but it doesn’t show up as bright on me, and I would say it is a warm everyday pink. The formula is outstanding – the whole premise of this lipstick is that even though it is matte, it is still luminous from within. It is soft and creamy, but still looks matte on the lips. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is a hydrating formula, but it is far less drying than all other matte formulas I have tried. Let’s not forget the stunning rose gold packaging… But I think that speaks for itself. 



I definitely would recommend this formula whether you are a matte lipstick lover or not, it is a stunning opaque formula, and there is a colour for everyone. Have you had your eyes on these?

–RachelElizabeth
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The Most Coveted Eyeshadow Palette | Lorac Pro Review and Swatches























For the past several times that someone I know has gone to the U.S., I have checked if there is an Ulta near to where they were staying. Who knew that they were actually somewhat of a rarity in the States?! So sadly this had made my quest for the Lorac Pro Palette seem very unlikely. However, it wasn’t until my boyfriend’s mum was about to travel to the States and, as usual, I did my background check and unsurprisingly had no luck, that my boyfriend suggested that I could have it delivered to her hotel… Brilliant! Yet this was not the happy ending to my story – both the Lorac and Ulta websites did not allow a non-US billing address. Not yet completely devoid of all hope, I continued my search and stumbled across several Lorac items on Amazon.com, realising that they actually sell their official products. With a very reasonable international shipping fee, it was in my basket and in my hands within a week. I could not have been happier…


Rambling introductions aside, the Lorac Pro Palette retails for $42. It consists of 16 neutral shadows – the top row matte, and the bottom shimmers. This is where the palette earns its well-deserved hype – the inclusion of so many mattes allows this to be a palette where you really don’t need any other shade to create so many looks. Let’s not forget the formula; it is one of the most buttery and smooth that I have ever come across. The shimmers are metallic but not filled with obnoxious glitter; the mattes are beyond smooth and apply so effortless onto the eye. My favourites are taupe (best transition shade), sable (stunning warm brown), Lt. Bronze (light shimmery gold) and Garnet (beautiful shimmery red-copper). The only shade I was a little disappointed with was white as it isn’t 100% matte – I could detect some shimmer in it, but it still performs well and is by no means a dud shade. 

The packaging also gets a massive thumbs up from me. When I opened the box I was shocked at how thin it is, making it ideal for travelling. The outside does seem like it will get a bit grubby (similar to Nars), but that can be overlooked. On the down side, I was also not too impressed with the included eye primer. I have particularly oily eyelids and am in love with the Nars Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base and the Lorac offering really didn’t compare.



 


All in all, this is currently my most used and favourite makeup item. As you may be able to tell from my recent reviews, I have bought my fair share of eyeshadow palettes recently, but this is by far the best of the best. If only I hadn’t missed out on the Mega Pro… 


–RachelElizabeth 
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A Day in Paris

It isn’t often I get personal on here, but something rather special happened at the weekend which is definitely worth writing about. My 21st birthday is this week, and as I’m at university, I went home last weekend to have some good old family celebrations. A couple of weeks ago, my mum texted me telling me that she had something planned, but I wasn’t allowed to know what we were going to be doing. This was all very exciting, but I honestly wasn’t expecting a lot and thought we may be spending a day in London. Boy I was in for a big surprise…


On friday night, my mum broke the news that we had to leave home at 5.45am for something that she had booked. I presumed that we were going out to breakfast, and when we got on the train at 6.15am, heading towards London, this seemed pretty likely. We arrived in London and got on the tube, headed to Kings Cross and I still had no clue. I even joked when we walked past the departure boards in St. Pancras that we were going to Paris, but it wasn’t until we actually got to the Eurostar entrance and my dad whipped out our four passports (I was convinced mine was still at uni) that I knew what was in store for the day. I have to say, I have never been quite so shocked in my life, and it was probably the best surprise I could ever have gotten.

We only had 6 hours in Paris, so it was a question of cramming in as much as we possibly can. Instead of listing our day, I thought I would compile a photo diary (I luckily bought my SLR with me). Of course I managed to hit up a pharmacy and Sephora – expect many posts on all that good stuff in the near future… 






















–RachelElizabeth
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L’Oreal Paris La Nude Palette | Review and Swatches






















When I received an email from Boots that L’Oreal were coming out with a new neutral eyeshadow palette I immediately jumped on the waiting list. There are a few brands that dominate the budget eyeshadow front – Sleek and Makeup Revolution are probably the most popular in the blogging world, so when I saw that one of the big dogs of the high street brands were joining in the huge neutral palette trend, I was very exciting to see how it would compare…

The L’Oreal Paris La Nude Palette contains 10 neutral shades that err on the rosey side (do I spy a Naked 3 dupe?). There are 6 shimmery shades and 4 mattes which I was very pleased with. Overall I was really impressed with the quality of the shadows. They were all very smooth to apply and the pigmentation is decent. I would say that the shimmery shades performed a little better than the mattes, but from experience this does tend to be the case. The selection of colours are very well thought out and all the shades work really well together. Its mainly cool toned, but what I love is the inclusion of the warm medium matte brown shade (fourth from the left) which is a really nice transition shade. The first half of the palette is perfect for subtle everyday shades, but you can create some really great smokey and dramatic looks with the other half. The best part about this palette is that you don’t need any extra shades, making it a great standalone travel product.



























































































I wouldn’t say that this is the most unique palette – it has a incredibly similar tone to the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette (check out my review of that here). However, it is less than a third of the price of the Urban Decay option, so if you don’t have that – or you’re an eyeshadow palette junkie like me – then maybe you should check this out. Regardless of the similarities, this is probably one of my favourite palettes from the high street. Have you checked this one out yet?  

–RachelElizabeth

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FOTD | Halloween Edition – Pop Art


























I know Halloween has been and gone, but I still thought it would be fun to share with you what I wore. I had a lot of fun creating this pop art inspired look, and although it took me a long time, I definitely think that the end result was worth it. If you’re interested in how I did this look, keep reading…


I started with my standard foundation routine – the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer to ensure extra longevity, my L’Oreal True Match in W4 followed by the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard under my eyes and on any blemishes. I then set this all in place with the Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus. 

Now onto the fun part. I primed the eyes using my standard Nars Smudgeproof Pro Prime Eyeshadow Primer. I then used the hot pink out of the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette (no longer available but any pink would work) all over my eye lid, and created a winged out effect using an angled brush. I then lined my eyes using the Mac Blacktrack Fluidline and extended the line to reach where I had winged the eyeshadow to. With the same liner, I outlined the shape of the eyeshadow, to create a slight cut crease look, and connected it to the inner corner. I lined the waterline with the Nyx Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk to create a bright eyed cartoon effect, then lined under the lashline with the fluidline. Next up was the eyebrows. I started by creating the basic shape with a black eyeliner and then went back over that with the fluidline to make sure it was really dark. I created the expression marks in the crease and in between the eyebrows by making a sad expression and following my natural lines. 

The tear was pretty simple – I drew the basic shape with a bright blue eyeliner pencil and then set it in place with a corresponding eyeshadow. I then lined that again with the fluidline. Next up was the lips – I started by lining and filling in my lips with my trusty Kiko Precision Lip Pencil in 306 and topped it with the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Hot Pepper to create a vibrant and long lasting lip shade. I then lined the lips with the fluidline. Next up was the dots – the part I was worried about the most. I used my favourite Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in Red Essential as the tip was a bit thicker than a regular pencil which actually made drawing on the dots quite easy. They may not have been the neatest – I struggled on my cheeks where my skin was slightly more squidgy – but I think it worked for the overall effect. The finishing touches were to line the perimeter of my face with the gel liner and then spray my hair yellow with coloured hairspray (link here).

So I hope you enjoyed this post. If you were interested in what outfit I wore, it was an aztec style dress from Missguided – but I think any bright dress could have worked for this look. What did you go as for halloween? 
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Manicure Monday #23 | OPI Skull and Glossbones






















I don’t always follow the trends for nail polish, and there are some shades that I love to wear all year round. So today we are straying away from those dark autumnal shades that we all know and love, and I bring you one of my favourite polishes in my collection. And maybe I’ll convince you that you also need a light grey in yours…


OPI Skull and Glossbones is a cream-finish light grey. This was part of the Pirates of the Carribean collection a few years back now, but it is still available online (with a bit of a search I found it here). I really love the formula of OPI polishes – it has the perfect consistency, lasts for ages and is really glossy. There’s something special about this colour though. It is muted enough to act somewhat like a nude on the nails, making it nice and sophisticated, but it doesn’t blend in with your fingers or wash you out. Perfection. 






















If you’re a fan of the nude/neutral nail then you definitely need to try out this shade (or one like it). Sometimes its nice to stray away from the bold colours and feel a little grown up for a change…
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