My Perfect Nude Lip Combination

I mentioned in my recent Louise Loves post about a lip combination I have been using a lot recently.  I wanted a lipstick which would give the 90s style nude/brown effect which are all over the place at the moment and I was lucky enough to find it in Superdrug for under a fiver!

Louise Loves #11

H&M Necklace

I bought this necklace a couple of weeks ago from H&M for £7.99.  Now, I am the sort of person who wear the same 2 costume necklaces on rotation so I thought I would mix it up a bit and get some new ones.  I am on the look out for longer ones as the ones I usually wear are short chunky pieces.  I got a lovely one from Topshop but it broke the day I got it so I took it back and didn't bother getting a new one.  This H&M one caught my eye because it looks much fancier than it is.  You can't see in the photo but chains are actually beads which are multi-facetted which makes them really sparkle in certain lights.  I love that I can just wear a plain top and throw this on and it looks like I've made more of an effort!

Gosh Nougat Crisp Lip Liner & Make up Revolution The One Lipstick

I wanted to find a product which would give me the sort of nude/brown 90s style lips that are all over the place at the moment but I have quite strongly coloured lips so I wasn't sure if it would suit me.  I found this combination in Superdrug for a total of about £5 so I could try it out without spending too much money!  The liner is really nice, it's a softer version of the colour of my lips and it applies easily.  The lipstick is a semi-matte nude and works well on top of the liner in the middle to lighten my lips slightly.  I will do a separate post on this with photos of them together on my lips.  I also got another lipstick which is more nude and true matte but I haven't tried this properly yet as I loved the first one I tried so much! 

Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel

I've had this for a while now but I'm going to be honest, it scared me a bit!  I was really excited when it first arrived in the post but when I tried it out I realised you can't just paint it on as you would with a pencil or eyeshadow, so I took to youtube and found some gel brow tutorials and now I am loving it!  I am going to do a post soon to show you how I use it, what tools and other products I use it with.

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NOTD: Holographic

without flash

I was so lucky and won a Twitter giveaway by Lauren from The Cosmetics Kitten to win the new GOSH holographic nail varnish.  I had actually been saying to her how I really wanted it but wasn't sure when I'd get into a Superdrug which stocked it!

It arrived yesterday and I was so excited to try that I took off this nail varnish which was hardly even chipped to try out this one!  I expected the formula to be a bit weird which seems to be common with holographic nail polishes but it wasn't too bad, I think that is why it's slightly different from the previous one.  It was opaque in two coats, but some areas would rub off when you went over them so I had a couple of little baldy patches  - I just went over them again once it was totally dry.

Sorry for all the photos but it's just so pretty!!  I wanted to make sure I captured it as accurately as possible.  Now I just want more of them!  I think China Glaze do some nice ones, and I saw Butter London had brought one out called Fishwife?!

You can also see Lauren's review of it here :)

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Empties #1

 I've seen quite a few people doing 'Monthly Empties' posts and I've wanted to do it too but I don't actually finish anything quickly enough!  I will try do one every time I get to 5 empty products.  So to take a closer look at the first five items:

Boots Skin Silk Anti-Perspirant Deodorant

Thoughts: Trying to find a cruelty free deodorant is the bane of my life!  That and perfume!  I tried this Boots one because I don't like aerosols and thought I would try a roll-on.  I didn't really like it as it took ages to dry under my arms and I didn't feel like it worked all that well either.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No, and I think I'll avoid roll-ons in future, I prefer sticks but they're hard to find!

Naked Colour Protecting Conditioner:

Thoughts: I bought this along with the shampoo which I have stopped using for the meantime.  I thought it was okay but I found that my hair was still quite tangly after using it when usually conditioner detangles!

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No, but I will try other conditioners from this brand instead.

Boots Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover: 

Thoughts: Really cheap, £1.25 I think, works well enough!  Only thing I dislike is the smell, it's bit sickly but I can deal with it!

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: Yes, already have!

Gosh Long Lasting Lip Marker in Pink:

Thoughts: It is okay but it feathers out around my lips, so then I would need to use lip liner with it. However this clogged up the felt tip and stopped as much product getting out!

Cruelty-free?: Yes.

Repurchase?: No, but I do like the lip markers so I'll maybe try a different brand.

Avon Perfect Wear Eyeliner in Black:

Thoughts: It was good to start off with but it suddenly just became really watery and blue rather than black.

Cruelty-free?: No.

Repurchase?: No, but I do need to find a CF felt tip liner, they are my favourite kind!

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Things I bought today even though I have no money and really shouldn’t have:

Today was payday, yippeeee!!  So I decided to treat myself with a wee shopping trip because I have literally not bought any clothes other than wedding pieces for a looong time, last thing I bought was one top for a night out at the end of January, and before then… who knows!
Unfortunately even though I got paid I am still broke so it was Primark for me!  I got a few bits so here they are :)

 I found this shirt just lying in a random stand (as you do in Primark!) and loved it, especially the back.  It is quite long on me, I’m only 5’4 so not a big fan of long things but never mind, I can see past it!  Luckily the size I found fitted me fine, it was a 6 and I’d usually take an 8 but it was quite big and baggy. Cost £10.

 One can never have too many white shirts! Cost £10.

 This little aztec print mini skirt caught my eye once I thought I’d finished clothes shopping of course!  I haven’t tried it on properly (I shimmied on over my jeans, all myself, what an embarrassment!) so it might end up going back if it doesn’t fit - hope it does though, love the colours!  Cost £4.

 Lastly I got this pair of bright orange shorts.  If you know me well in person you will probably know that I’ve been quite obsessed with the colour orange recently…  So I obviously couldn’t resist these!  They also had a navy pair and I was torn between them until my friend reminded me that I already have a pair of navy shorts, so I went for orange.  The material has a sheen to it which you can see reflected the flash in the photo.  Cost £10.

I also went to Superdrug because I really wanted to look at MUA and GOSH stuff, and I had some points to spend on my beauty card so I figured it wouldn’t be too bad going, even though I am still pretty much boycotting them (excuses, excuses!).  I got MUA blusher in shade 6 because obsessed with berry blush - I have about 3 on the go at the moment!  It is really lovely and smooth, very finely milled considering it costs a pound, A POUND!!!!  Then I saw the MUA nail varnish in a khaki green colour and I don’t have any colours like that, and for a pound again, you can’t really go wrong.  Finally I was having a look in clearance section and came across this eyeliner in Bananas (love it!) by GOSH for £2 so I got that thinking it might be a nice waterline colour for when white is just too white.  It came to £4 and I could use £3 of my points so I think that wee selection isn’t too bad for £1!  Also, you still get points… when you spend your points… mind blown!  Damn you Superdrug, I wish I wasn’t boycotting you!
Okay I am done… Well done if you made it through that, or at least looked at the pictures ;)

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